Never Saw That Coming
by LJ Summers
Summary: Winner of Best Overall in the Twilight Gem Pearl Round, this is the story of how Leah Clearwater met her biological match in the last man she would have expected. Rife with snark, Leah's spirit isn't broken, but made whole. Sixth in my Imprinting Series.
1. Prologue

**A/N: I know I rocked your socks when I had Leah Clearwater imprinting on Charlie Swan. I know it. I am indeed writing that story and I wanted to share the first part of it with you. This story will be dovetailing lightly with Surprise M'Ending, which is Jacob Black's imprinting. **

**Hope you enjoy this little moment in the mind of Leah. More from me at the end!**

******_This is a work of derivative fiction. All things TWILIGHT are the intellectual property of Stephenie Meyer and/or her assignees. I write merely to entertain myself and others and receive no compensation._**

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**Prologue**

They always called me a bitch. I guess I am. Only female canine in the pack – that makes me _the_ bitch.

I hate that they've been right all this time. I hate it. But at the same time, I want to roll around on the ground with my paws in the air and make that bizarre barking laugh when I'm running on my own. It'd be fun. But I can only do that when no one else is phased, or they'll joke about it. Tell me I've got PMS or something stupid.

If only.

_Leah! _

I growled. _Yeah, Sam?_

_Phase off. You're off duty. Go home. Get some rest. You've been on all night. _

_I'm not a baby, Sam. I can do this. If you can, I can._

I saw his blacker-than-black silhouette move silently through the tree line as he approached. His onyx eyes gleamed, catching the light from a still-hidden sunrise. It was intimidating as hell. But also, finally, it wasn't heart-wrenching. _Finally_.

It had been. From the day he imprinted on my best friend and cousin, Emily Young, until the day I phased wolf and found out why the bastard had abandoned me, I was heartbroken and felt ripped apart by his betrayal. Who wouldn't act like a bitch in those circumstances, is what I want to know. Secrets floating about me like dead fish on an algae-rich tide – hell, it was not what I'd wish on anyone.

_I know you're not a baby. But it's my shift. You don't have to do the work of two males just because you're a female._

I twitched my ear at him. _Sure I do. You guys only think about sex. You need a female to keep you on task._

An involuntary image streaked across his mind and I chuffed in a canine approximation of a laugh to see Emily chiding him about that very thing in the privacy of their bedroom.

It was a relief to be able to laugh about it, even inwardly. _All right. I'm going_.

_Gonna run by and see him?_

_Yeah_. I tried to play it off, but I couldn't really. I couldn't because – weird and strange and sometimes as unwelcome as it was – I really had to see my imprint.

I really had to _see_ and _smell_ and maybe – maybe –_touch_ Charlie Swan.

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**A/N: _This story has been nominated for the BEST IMPRINT at the Silent Tear Awards! Please consider voting for it. The link to the voting page is on my profile. Thank you so much! ~LJ_**


	2. One: Get a whiff of him!

**A/N: Thanks so much for the great comments and the adds to your lists! I am so glad if this story is entertaining you! I'm having fun with it. **

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_**One: Take a whiff of **_**him**_**!**_

"Can't believe I'm doing this," I grumbled to Seth as I laced up running shoes. "Jogging in town. It's freaking ridiculous."

My brother, in the process of inhaling five eggs, three pieces of toast and a quart of orange juice only grinned at me with that way-too-happy face of his. "Didn't you spend all night running, sis?"

"Shut up."

"You could probably drive right past his house and knock on the door and he'd answer, you know," my obnoxious brother went on, speaking around the crust of bread hanging from the corner of his mouth. Pig. Didn't he learn any manners from our parents and me? "Charlie's a great guy, especially since the vamps left." Yeah, he just started phasing and all of a sudden he's the big Vampire Expert? I felt like I was living in the _Twilight Zone _sometimes, I swear.

Finished with my shoes, I bounced to my feet, practically vibrating with nervous energy. "All right, I'm gone. Don't forget to check mom's tires before you go on patrol."

He waved me off with a smile from which dribbled orange juice. I rolled my eyes and just before I closed the door behind me, shouted, "You have got to work on your table manners or you'll never impress your future imprint!"

I didn't even stick around to hear him deny it. Hell, if_ I_ could imprint, so could he. Instead, I jumped in my ancient Maxima. A Maxima. Who drove one of these things, anyway? Thing is, Sam and his friends found it and the guys put it together as a kind of project the last summer Sam and I were together. I don't even know what year it started out being, but it's got to be a mess, now. Still, it's a dust-hiding silver and doesn't stand out anywhere.

Which makes it perfect for stalking my imprint.

I had to laugh in the privacy of my own front seat. I was _stalking_ my freaking _imprint_. Who does that?

I left La Push and headed into town. Charlie's house was almost a place I could find on auto-pilot by now. I came, oh hell. I ran past here phased at least once a night. Just to run next to his cruiser for his scent. It was weird. The cruiser was there and my throat went dry, just thinking how I could make this work. I should have asked Bella what to do. I hadn't told anyone but the other guys. I think Sam told Emily. But I know that if Embry had told Bella, I would have totally heard about it by now. She might think I've been a bitch, but the girl was practically fearless. Had to give her that much, anyway.

_Clomp clomp clomp_. Work shoes making their way down the thin stairs at the Swan house. I knew the stairs were thin because Jake had been in there and he'd shown us the entire interior of the house. Hell, I even knew what Bella's old room looked like.

But I had no idea about Charlie's... Even thinking about it made my skin heat uncomfortably. I got twitchy and jerked myself away. _You are a complete moron_, I told myself.

Nerves thrumming, I searched the yard for some excuse, any excuse, to talk to him when he came out. Could you be any weirder? I wondered. Keys. I heard his keys and my heart just jumped. I was terrified. I was thrilled. I was going to fall on my face and –

My darting gaze hit the newspaper on the driveway. The _Forks Forum_ was wrapped in plastic against the inevitable rain. I scooped it up just in time to hear the front door being unlocked with that halting, clicking sound I already knew better than I ever would have figured I'd care to know it.

Crap. I was supposed to be jogging. Right. I didn't have to fake the breathlessness, and I couldn't fix the lack of sweat, so I just had to wing it, hoping I didn't blurt out anything stupid.

"Hey, Charlie!" I called over the hood of his cruiser. "Good morning!"

He stiffened, his eyes narrowed, before he saw me and smiled. The man had a great smile, like that – broad and warm and welcoming. His eyes crinkled up at the corners and his shoulders relaxed as he strolled over to meet me next to his car. "G'morning, Leah. What brings you up this way so early?" His gaze skimmed over me, undoubtedly seeing the running shoes, the blue shorts, the white tank top. I knew it was the attention he'd pay to anyone to check out their story, but I still had to keep myself from grinning like an idiot. "Running? Aren't you kind of far from home?"

"Uh, yeah. Um, here's your paper, Charlie," I blurted, thrusting it out in front of me and breathing him in. He smelled like old leather and laundry detergent and – and _male_. _Virile_ male. Yeah, I knew that it was the imprint that was making my lady bits all excited, but wow. "Um, you want to come down for dinner sometime? Um, I know that will Bella married and everything, I bet you could use something to eat that wasn't from the diner, huh?"

Damn. Now he'd know I was stalking him! I grimaced and hoped he didn't catch that.

My worry was over fast when he laughed. "Yeah, I guess even the Rez has heard I'm haunting the diner." He stopped, pursed his lips under his mustache – I never thought a 'stache was sexy before I imprinted on Charlie Swan, but I sure thought _his_ was – and looked me dead in the eye. I felt my mouth go dry but I took a long breath through my nose to try to calm down. I was doing great, but then he did something I didn't expect.

At all.

He reached out to me and surrounded one of my shoulders with his hand. "So, did ya mean it, Leah? You and your mom taking pity on an old guy?" He chuckled so I could see he was joking as he slowly dropped his hand.

But inside, I was torn. It wasn't my _mother_ I wanted him to see – it was _me_! What the hell could I do about that?

"Well, I – I haven't really a – asked her," I stuttered. Stuttering! When did I start _that_ nonsense? I was turning into Jell-O, right here on the street! "I could, um, invite Bella and the twins, if you want. Make it kind of a deal, you know." I'd have to tell Bells what was up, too. Then, she could help me cook! Yeah! Charlie needed someone who could feed him, that was for sure... I could learn to do that. I could totally learn. Of course.

At the mention of his daughter and the grandkids – Charlie Swan was the hottest grandpa_ I'd_ ever seen – his dark eyebrows rose up into his forehead and he sort of lit up from the inside. "That sounds like a plan, Leah. I like it."

"What time?" I asked.

He rapped the paper against his leg and thought for a moment. I took a deep breath and tried to get a grip on myself. My emotions. I knew what the guys had felt when they'd imprinted but damn – this was harder to manage than I'd thought. What the hell was the matter with me? Even when I was ass over head in love with Sam I didn't feel like this. It was never this intense and – and _needy_. This was how Sam had felt, more or less, with my cousin Emily.

Yeah, I woulda dumped me, too, if I'd been him. And if she had been Charlie.

Okay, that was weird.

"I'll call you down at the house, okay?" A brief flash of pain crossed his face before he asked, "Same number as, ah, before right?"

He had been best friends with my dad. The pain flashed behind my eyes, too, and I bit my lips together to keep a sudden, startled cry from letting loose and embarrassing me.

"Aw, Leah, hon, I'm sorry. I didn't mean –" One awkward arm loosely embraced my shoulders and I instinctively ducked my head into the crook of his neck. And then, yeah, I cried a little because I missed my dad. He'd died earlier in the year and it was normal that I'd miss him. But I was also leaning into him, feeling the surprisingly taut lines of his body as he half-embraced mine.

Before I did something really stupid, like nuzzle his throat and sigh, I backed away from him a little and wiped rapidly at my eyes. "Uh, sorry, Charlie. I didn't mean –"

He smiled lopsidedly. "Still on for dinner?"

"Sure! Yeah, the number's still good and all. Let me know and I'll call Bella, okay?"

"Uh, Embry can come too, if he wants," he murmured, scrubbing at the back of his neck.

I had to grin. "I don't think we could keep him away, even if we wanted to."

"I can believe that!"

He was still chuckling as I took off on my pretend jog. I had to keep it up until his car turned the corner at the end of the street. He waved at me.

It was the best morning of my life since Sam broke up with me. Damn. I was sounding all girly. Then, because I knew I had to, I checked the cheap WalMart watch on my wrist. That had been about a seventeen-hour break from the time I was sniffing around Charlie's police cruiser until I had seen him. I had to set my mental clock back to zero and start over.

I really, really didn't want to deal with an insane time. Which meant I would have to get way more devious or tell him.

Yeah. I needed to tell him. Soon.

Bella was going to kill me.

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**A/N #2: I will be taking this story to the point where I have Jacob's imprint story before I update that one, in case anyone is wondering if I forgot about poor Jake. I just want to make sure I mesh their timelines properly. They are separate stories, but they happen mostly concurrently at some point and I don't want to goof up too much.**

**Also... The prelim round for the Indie TwiFic Awards finish voting tomorrow, March 2nd! If you haven't voted and you want to, check the info on my profile and head on over. Thank you! ~LJ**


	3. Two: You Did Not

**A/N: With thanks to katmom and u2shay for reading over part of this and letting me know it "worked" for them, I give you the Passing of WG-101.**

**Thank you so much for the wonderful comments and adds to your lists! I am so glad you're having fun with this pairing!**

**Now, back to Leah, who's waiting by the phone...**

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_**Two: You. Did. Not.**_

"Leah, what has got into you? You've been staring at that phone for twelve minutes, by my watch." Mom always said, "by my watch" when she was discussing matters of time. As a nurse, she kept her work ordered by time. Dosages, time spent in a shower, on the toilet, time until the doctors did their rounds. I bet she even dreamed with her watch ticking as background noise.

"A watched phone never rings, right?" I tried to smile and make it look like it didn't matter if he called. "Were _you_ waiting for a call?" It was Mom. I had to be polite.

"No. I'm just wondering..." Mom slid her feet into her white work shoes. Ugliest things in the world. Just for the shoes, I'd refuse to go to nursing school. I mean, Mom's great and I'm usually glad she's a nurse and all, but damn, I'd hate to sentence myself to those shoes for thirty-forty years.

"Wondering what?"

"His name."

"Charlie," I said. And then I realized she'd pulled The Classic from her maternal arsenal. "Crap," I muttered under my breath, my whole body feeling hot from my embarrassment. "I wasn't going to tell you yet."

Far from being shocked or weirded out, my mother just shrugged. "Figured it was some guy," she told me. "Charlie from the gas station?"

That's why. I cringed inside, but I was feeling all bouncy, too. I'd never told anyone I'd imprinted. The guys (and Seth, but he hardly felt like one of The Guys in my head) knew about Charlie Swan because they were in my head. Sharp as Mom was, she didn't get to go there. So I had to tell her.

Heart pounding, I could feel a stupid smile tugging at my lips. "Um, Mom? I've got some news."

Then, Mom got all serious and froze in place, her keyring dangling from her forefinger. "You're pregnant?"

"No effing way! Who'd get me pregnant? I'm a _werewolf_, Mom! Remember?"

Relief seemed to melt over her like butter on the stove. "Oh, right." Then, she grimaced. "I know it's got to be a hardship, honey...."

I held up my hand and rolled up on my toes, feeling like I was about six years old with a big, juicy secret. "No. Wait. It's about Charlie and me."

Mom's dark brow rose into her forehead. She had great skin. "You roll that together like you're a couple, Leah."

I inhaled deeply and just closed my eyes – my inner child was a complete coward, I guessed – and blurted, "I imprinted, Mom. On Charlie Swan. Just a few days ago and I've been waiting for him to call because I sorta asked him to dinner and I've gotta tell Bella and do you think she'll hate me?"

I didn't have a pin to drop, but I picked up the _pen_ that was next to the phone and rolled it between my hands when Mom didn't say anything. I mean, nothing. She just stood there, her eyes wide and staring, her mouth dropping open.

"Say something!" I insisted, a surge of irritation making me throw that pen down so that it broke on the linoleum, making the blue ink go everywhere. "Crap! Sorry, Mom! Stupid werewolf strength." I tugged on the paper towels hanging from their roll under the cupboard and brought the whole roll down with me on the floor. I swore, trying to keep it under my breath so Mom didn't hear me. She hated the way I had started with _all the language_ since I'd become part of the pack.

Easy for her to judge; she didn't have _her_ ex-boyfriend and a bunch of rowdy, horny teenage guys in her mind for hours every day. She'd be spewing too, if she did! She would have made a hell of a wolf.

"Charlie _Swan_? You – you imprinted on _Charlie_? Your _dad's_ best friend?"

I tried not to feel a sting in her disbelief, but it wasn't easy. I rubbed a little at my chest with the hand that wasn't still scrubbing at the ink getting stuck in the tiny creases in the flooring. "Yeah. Hey, I didn't see it coming, either, you know? It just – happened."

Mom actually went – well, I'd say "pale" but that doesn't really work, right? Deflated. She kind of leaned on the counter like she needed help standing. She's a tribal elder, for crying out loud.

I bounced to my feet. "You're a tribal elder for crying out loud. Can't you say something else? Like, _Congratulations_? Or, _Have you told him?_ Or, _How the hell did that happen?_"

Finally, Mom shook herself like she was going to join the pack along with her kids. "Yeah. All of that, hon. I'm just floored, really. It was odd enough having you go wolf to begin with. The Council will be surprised to find you've imprinted." Then she opened her mouth, shut it, and opened it again to say, "Are you sure, Leah? I mean, really sure?"

I snorted. "I'm sure. Sam's sure. And you know what?"

"What?"

"I'm happy, Mom. So be happy for me, okay?" Happy. I'd been unhappy for so long I forgot what it felt like until the day I imprinted.

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Jake was on that Get-the-Hell-Away-From-Embry's-Imprint vacation and we were all finally able to phase without having to listen to Mr. Woe is Me.

I was off patrol and over at the Ateara's little general store to pick up some shampoo. With going all furry all the time, I felt like I needed dog shampoo, but I settled for just a good stiff "stripping all the oils out from your scalp to your ends" kind of shampoo. Still hard to feel clean, but apparently I was the only one who felt that way. The guys were such – such _guys_ – that they could not have cared less about how dirty their fur got. Mrs. Ateara was getting off the phone when I got there.

"Leah, hello! Could you do me a favor?"

Ticked off – she knew about the phasing thing since her father was an elder and so she knew I'd probably spent the night before running patrol to protect the Reservation, which I thought was favor enough for anyone – I leaned against the counter. "Yeah? What?"

"Quil's out and I need to have some groceries delivered to the Black's house. Jake's gone, so I can't ask him to come get them. Billy's having Chief Swan down for a barbecue or something and forgot to stock up on Rainier."

"Fine. What am I taking?"

She reached down and hefted up a couple of double-bagged six-packs of good old Vitamin R. I could not see what guys got out of that. Beer tastes like moldy bread. I didn't want to eat moldy bread and I sure as hell didn't want to drink it.

I grabbed the beer and took off at a run out of the store. Just a good jog, really. There wasn't any forest cover by the general store. I liked the run, to be honest. I could beat the ground senseless under my feet and pretend it was the guys or my cousin and no one could say a thing about it. I can't count how many times my feet ran right over Emily's face on my runs.

I reached Billy's house pretty fast, only then remembering I'd probably jostled the beer a lot and I hoped to hell I wasn't around when they opened it. The police cruiser was pulling up just as I was reaching the edge of the yard and I slowed to a walk. I had to think of a story, fast. I was trying to figure out where I'd found the beer and remembering I wasn't old enough to buy it, yet, when Charlie got out of the car and turned to smile at me.

"Hey, Leah! Whatcha got, there?"

I mustered an innocent smile to put on my face and met his eye and –

My world exploded. Quietly, but still. The fact that I'd known him my whole life didn't matter. The fact that he and my dad had been buddies for _decades_ didn't matter. The fact that he was Bella's dad didn't matter. Neither did the twenty-year age difference. All that mattered was that my mind and body were pulled to him like iron filings to a magnet.

My mouth hung open and I crossed the dirt yard until I was right in front of him. "Hey, Charlie," I managed to garble out. "Good to see you."

I should've been given an award for the understatement of the year.

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"Leah?" Mom sounded amused. "Where'd you go, hon?"

I shook myself away from the memory of imprinting on Charlie and blinked. "What?"

"Phone? It's not Charlie, so relax."

My brain went all over, hoping my imprint was all right. Which was stupid really, since he was armed and dangerous and the Chief of Police. I snatched the phone up, because my mom apparently thought I needed one more stress today. "If this ink smears on the phone..." I growled. Not at her. Not really. Just more like in her general direction. I checked the Caller ID window. _What does she want?_ "Hello?"

"Yeah, Leah, it's Emily."

"Hey, Cousin. How's things?"

"Yeah. Great."

It got quiet for a few seconds and I could hear her breathing hitch. I got all worried. "Is - is Sam –" I said, faltering while my gut sank to my shoes.

I could almost hear her shake her head. "Um, I've got something here for you. Kind of a guidebook I wrote for the imprints. Sam thinks you should give it to Chief, um, Charlie."

Surprise jolted through me. "You did _not_ write a book about this. It's oral tradition, Em!"

"Oh, I did. And your Alpha says it's approved."

I dropped the phone.

! O ! O !

When Charlie called, it was to tell me that he couldn't make it for dinner until the next night, because he'd forgotten about the poker game with the guys at the station. I was torn. I had seen him, which meant I didn't probably have to have contact with him until the next morning or afternoon – which meant I'd have to figure out some kind of errand to run in town or hope that that stupid insanity window was longer than Embry's had been because by the time we planned to have him come, I would have been away from him for about thirty-five hours.

Could I risk it?

Well, I was going to Sam and Emily's tonight, so I decided to tell them I was going to try, anyway. Then they could be prepared.

I smelled someone new as I approached Sam's front door. Jake was here. Bella and Embry and...yes, the twins. I'd met them. We all had to meet them. The entire pack. They were the firstborn of the next generation, so we all had to get acquainted with their scent. Hell, it had been a scene straight out of National Geographic. For the supernatural, anyway. All of us in the Council House, lining up to walk by Embry and Bella, who were each holding one of the kids.

Sam and Emily, of course, and another scent. Who was that?

Curious, I knocked on the door before just opening it to see the most beautiful girl I'd ever seen standing in the middle of Emily's living room. The new girl eyed me with a strangely defensive stiffening of her spine and it was then that I saw that Jake had his arm around her.

Forgetting about Sam and Emily, I just had to laugh. "No way, Jake! Did you find your imprint in California after all?"

I heard Jake's heart pick up speed, and the girl's face went a little purple there near her temples. Oops?

Jake tightened his arm a little. "Cassi. This is another member of the pack. Emily's cousin, Leah Clearwater." Jake was radiating tension but he was also looking a little smug. "Leah, this is my imprint, Cassi Uley."

I choked, thinking he was pulling my furry back leg. "Uley?"

Sam got up and came to stand in between me and the new girl. "Uley. She and I – and Embry – all had the same father."

"Holy. Hell."

! O ! O !

We got through the awkward getting-acquainted garbage. I found out that the guys had actually phased in front of Cassi that night. Sam had a half-freaking-sister. No way! That kept reverberating in my head. So they had phased and everyone was okay.

Mostly.

"Uh, Jake?" Cassi said, her smooth voice sounding like sex on ice. Well, if Mr. Newly Imprinted had to find a soul mate, he found a looker, anyway. A model, Emily said. She totally looked the part. And acted like a diva, too. "I told you I needed to talk. Can we go do that someplace." She shot me a guarded, angry glance. "Someplace _private_?"

Jake whispered in a voice so quiet the humans in the room – Emily and Sam's half-sister – "Don't go taking Sam's head off, Leah. He didn't know."

I nodded to show I heard him and then he indicated the tall, dark and beautiful Cassi Uley to the front door. I had turned to ask Emily to tell me what it was she had for me when I heard,

"Sam? Can I get a flashlight or something? It's dark."

"You won't need it," Emily said quickly. "He won't let you fall."

Cassi's voice was sharp with disbelief and derision. So sharp that I had to turn to stare at her. "What?" she demanded. "Supernatural night vision, too?"

"Yeah!" I said, my voice too loud for the small room. I totally didn't care. This girl got my hackles up. "So enjoy it, why don't you?"

"Enough, Leah," Jake muttered, ushering his imprint out the door and letting it slam behind him with a sudden, final sound.

"Great. She forgot the book." Emily picked up a leather-bound book from their refinished coffee table.

Sam returned to the chair he'd been sitting on and pulled Emily back down to his lap. I looked at them – disgusting, the pair of them, but they always had been – and smiled. Really smiled. Emily caught my eye and her answering grin was peaceful. My insides relaxed and I let myself fall backward onto the small, patterned sofa behind me. "Okay. What book, Emily?"

She tossed the leather-covered volume to me. "A guidebook. Like, something that tells an imprint what it means to be one. Things they really need to know. Things about you wolves. Stuff like that."

Sam wrapped both arms around his imprint and actually grinned at me. I even recognized that smile, because it was his playful one. One that he used to show me all the time and that he had only shown Emily when I wasn't around. I appreciated his obvious consideration, now that I noticed it. But I really didn't need to see his hands start to wander over Emily's stomach. I so did not need to see that. Then, I saw too damn much about everyone's sex lives as it was...

Would I get to have mental home movies of my own soon? Ha! Wouldn't that make them all insane? I had to laugh, even while I untied the leather thongs that held the book closed. I could imagine, just for a second, kissing Charlie Swan. His hands...they were so big and I loved how he felt on my shoulder only that morning and –

"Leah. Come back, Leah," Emily said, laughing. I blushed and then even Sam laughed at me. Embarrassed I growled for a second at the pair of them. My cousin dark eyes lit with far too much amusement for me to ignore, but I had to when she spoke again. "That's the book for Charlie. When you tell him –"

"Tomorrow. I'm gonna have him over for dinner and –"

Sam's hands finally quit roaming and he gaped at me. "Wait, you're cooking?"

"I'll figure something out. Anyway, I figured I'd tell Bella and ask her to help me." Nervous, I started tapping my fingers on the leather cover of WG-101 like it was a small drum or something. "I figured she could help me convince her dad not to freak out, too. I don't know how to make him believe me."

"Jake phased in front of Cassi tonight," Emily told me, her face completely serious. "On purpose. To convince her."

"Oh, hell no. I am not going to do that. Nuh-uh. No freaking way. No."

Right. Like I'd strip down in front of Charlie Swan and go all furry. I mean, maybe. Someday when – if – we were comfortable with each other, yeah, then. But not right at first.

"No way," I insisted again, pushing myself off the broken-in cushions of the sofa. "If I need you, though... Will you guys be home?"

Emily and Sam rose to their feet again. More like Sam stood up and then set my cousin down like she was made of glass or something. He ran his fingers lightly up the scarred side of her face with a tender warmth softening his own. "We'll be here. Just in case you need us, Leah. We're your family."

"Family," Emily said, reaching her hand to me.

And, for the first time in a long time, I embraced my cousin with a smile in my heart, not just on my face. That did not mean I didn't feel like chucking that book back at her as I left when she called, laughing, "Hey, Jake's option is still viable, you know!"

As if.


	4. Three: Worse than pulling teeth

**A/N: Wow, the title of this chapter has more to do with me than with Leah, probably, but here you go! I really meant for it to be much shorter, but Leah got really, REALLY nervous and couldn't just tell Charlie anything right up front. **

**So…it took a while. **

**Thank you so much for the adds and reviews and pimpage. I've enjoyed sharing this little story with y'all. I'm having way too much fun with Leah and Charlie!**

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_**Three: Worse than pulling teeth. Really.**_

I left Sam's house, completely thrumming with nerves. No, I didn't want to phase in front of Charlie. I didn't doubt for a minute that he'd manage not to faint or anything – my imprint was a cop, for Pete's sake _and_ Bella's dad and she hadn't freaked out. She had to get her courage from her dad, right? Of course. So, I didn't worry about that.

No. I just got all liquid-like even thinking of stripping down to phase in front of him. Hell, even being in my wolf form, I'm naked, right? And I've seen the guys' memories. I know that they still get to feeling horny when they're all in their fur. So I know I'd feel _that_ way for my man and the sheer _idea_ of being naked with him was just blowing my freakin' mind.

Not that I could talk to any of them about it. Of course, damn it, they'd find out soon enough unless I managed to find some way to hide that stuff. Maybe I could do like Jared does and imagine my imprint naked...

His body is good; I'd felt him when he had his arm around me, earlier. I'd seen him in a t-shirt, before, coming back from fishing with Billy Black. Nice arms. I'd checked him out in the last week, too, from the back. Yes, yes I did. But he was only wearing those uniform pants they have to wear on duty. Still, not bad. No, Charlie Swan was in good shape and I knew I liked the way that shape felt. And smelled. And oh, those hands...

"Leah! You okay?"

"Embry!" I was annoyed that my face got hot. "What the hell, dude? I hadn't even knocked yet."

"Yeah, but when I smelled you out here..." He gave me this angled-head look and I got even more embarrassed. Crap. Couldn't hide a thing with these guys. "You okay?" he asked again.

I pushed past him. "I gotta talk to Bella," I told Embry. "I need help."

"Ah, you're gonna tell him, then?"

I waved Emily's little book – _WG 101_ – in front of Embry's face. "Yep. And Bella's going to help me."

"Embry? Who is it?" Bella's voice was really soft and sweet just now. I inhaled and caught the scents of her kids and of warm – oh.

"Look, I, um, can come back later, maybe?" I muttered, embarrassed to have caught Bella feeding the babies. "I know she's, ah, busy..."

Embry did something I don't think any of the guys had ever done for me. He smiled sympathetically and put his hands gently on my shoulders. "Leah. You've got to tell him. And yeah, I know Bella will help you. But she's got to know first, right? So hang out here a few, have a soda. I know she'll want to hear it from you."

"She's gonna be pissed, isn't she?" Why I was so worried about little Bella Swan's – Bella Call's! – reaction baffled me. To distract myself from telling her, I thought about why I was worried instead.

She knew what it meant to be mated to a wolf. She hadn't jumped into it with both feet, but had had to be won over, I know. Sure, it all worked out in the end, but not right away. She was going to know what her dad would be exposed to, and she might get all territorial, too.

I mean, I was in love with her dad! And I was only a year older than she was! She would freak out! What if – what if things "worked out" with me and Charlie, too? Would that make me her stepmother?

I needed a drink. Something harder than a Coke. I had been pacing in the living room, between the invisible boundary between the kitchen area and the living room area, but I kept going straight into the kitchen this time, flipping open cupboard doors and then the fridge.

"What are you looking for?" Embry's voice came from down the hall. I could hear the sounds of the babies being burped and the slight sounds of clothing being tossed this way and that. "The soda's in the fridge, Leah."

"Got anything harder than beer?"

"You don't even drink that stuff." Bella's steps came with her voice. "What's up? Em said you needed to talk to me," she went on, her voice wary as she shook out the ponytail on top of her head. With a nod, she invited me to return to the living room and sit down. "Sofa or chair, whatever."

Not like any amount of alcohol would have helped. I tried to sit on the recliner. It used to be Old Quil's, but Embry and Bella got it as a housewarming gift when they moved in. It was worn black leather and a loose mechanism. I rocked a little in the chair, my heart pounding.

Bella cocked her head and frowned at me. "What is it? I can't deal with another female flip-out moment, Leah. One was enough for me, thank you."

"One? Who?"

Bella rolled her eyes. "Jake's imprint. Did you _see_ her yet?"

I felt an instant and totally unexpected camaraderie with Embry's wife. "Yes! What a _bitch_!"

Bella leaned forward, dark eyes flashing with something like humor. "I know! Man, I know that Embry had a lot of stuff to handle with me at first but...wow. Cassi is on a whole other level." She watched me nod and drum restlessly on the arms of the chair before making a beckoning motion with her hands. "C'mon Leah. What is it? Oh, hey, you brought Emily's book? I got a copy at her place."

The book. Right. Okay. It was time. I had to tell her. I bounced up on my feet, catching Emily's little book before it fell. "Yeah. Um. I know. Um. Bella? It's not for you. It's for me."

Rising slowly to her feet, Bella wore a smirk that reminded me oddly of Jacob Black. The jerk. "For you? Leah, did _you_... I mean, _can_ you...?"

Relief washed over my skin, giving me goosebumps before I remembered that Bella might have guessed that much but she didn't know who my imprint was. Yet. "Uh, yeah. I can and I did and it's – it's your dad, Bells."

I tensed, waiting for her to freak the hell out. She stood completely still, her eyes growing wide before her heart started pounding fast enough that Embry came all but leaping down the hall to reach us in the living room, one baby over each of his bare shoulders. "You imprinted on Charlie? _On my dad?_" Her voice was ground out as if over rough sandpaper. "But - But, I thought... I thought that... Um." She fell back on the sofa her feet sprawled in front of her.

I crossed the small space to sit on the floor in front of her. "I know it's weird, Bells. I do. But – But I, I..." My mouth went dry even thinking about what to tell her. With a quick look up at Embry, I blew out a breath. "I love him, Bells."

She didn't say anything. Just kept staring at me with her mouth open like she'd unhinged it. I rose to my feet and got Embry's attention. It was hard, because he was staring at Bella as if he was afraid she'd faint or something. Still, he didn't interrupt m. "So, Embry? Is she okay?" We could both hear Bella's heart pounding away, but it was slowing down a little, and I guessed that was good. "Sorry it sort of fell out like that." I was, but I was also relieved as all get-out that I had said so to her.

"Isabella? Sweetheart?" Embry kept his babies balanced as he moved to sink to his wife's side. "It'll be okay, Bella. It will. It's an imprint. She loves him. I've seen it."

"He's going to totally freak. My dad? But... But that would mean... Leah?" Her brown eyes narrowed a little. "You got that book for my dad, right? So you're going to tell him soon."

She didn't look so sick around the edges now, and I felt all kinds of better. "You bet. And you're gonna help me," I told her, slapping the book against my thighs.

To my surprise, Bella Call chuckled and claimed one of her children from Embry's arms. "You are so gonna need my help, Leah. Are you going to phase for him?"

"No!"

What was it with everyone trying to get me naked and furry in front of Charlie Swan?

* * *

"You've never cooked before?" Bells laughed at me over her small kitchen table. There was a bowl for some kind of fruit salad on it, and a bunch of fruit and some cans of fruit cocktail. "It's not hard, Leah. Just slice these and put 'em in the bowl. Add the topping and the marshmallows."

"I know it's not hard, it's just not something I've ever wanted to do." I picked up the long skinny knife and started halving the beheaded strawberries.

I heard the meat start to sizzle under the broiler. Pork chops. "And now you want to?"

"Yeah. Weird, huh?"

Bella smiled over her shoulder at me after she checked on the chops. "No, not really. Embry told me that some of that stuff is instinctive. That you'll want to do things that will make him happy, once you know what they are." Her lips thinned as she continued to study my face, though, and I got all nervous again. "Are you feeling all right? It's been a while, right?"

I kept chopping. "Yeah. I mean, so far. How much longer?"

"About half an hour. Sure you're okay? I mean, we can go get him if you want?"

I nodded. "I'm fine. Just a little twitchy. Where's Embry?"

"He's taking the kids for a walk."

I snorted and tossed the strawberries into the large bowl in front of me before wiping the knife on a wet dish cloth and peeling a banana. "Yeah. Just in case Old Leah, here, loses her brain and phases in the middle of the kitchen. Can't believe he left you here with me,"I finished, feeling suddenly irritated and bitter again. Which was weird, since I hadn't felt like that, really, since I'd imprinted. I started slicing the bananas, hard, so that the knife hit the table with short, sharp sounds. "Does he think I'm an idiot? That I'm not going to know if I lose it? Huh?" Banana slices joined the strawberries and I wiped the knife again. I was getting agitated and decided to take it out on an apple. I chose the paring knife Bella had on the table and started peeling the apple, grinding my teeth. "Well, Bells?"

"Uh, Leah?"

"Yeah?"

"Don't cut yourself."

"Oh, right." Frowning, I kept at the apple until the peel was gone. "So. Is that it? Is he worried about me?"

"I am not a mindreader," Bella replied mildly, checking the meat again. "But he knows you better than I do. Also, he's gone nuts away from his imprint and so I have to trust his judgment."

Imprint. Charlie. Yes. My irritation melted away as I remembered his half-embrace of the other morning. "How'm I going to tell him, Bells? He'll freak."

"Did I freak?"

"Well, no. But you're - you're different."

She laughed and picked up the manual can opener to work on the fruit cocktail cans. "I'm Charlie Swan's daughter and don't you forget it. You know," she told me, her voice casual, "I'm hoping you're okay if it takes him a while to, um, warm up to all of this."

I nodded, my heart tripping in my chest. "You know I just want him to be happy, Bells. Is he...dating?" I managed to get that out somehow. "He's been at the diner an awful lot." He told me that himself. Still, the idea that someone else might be holding my imprint made me shake inside. Hated feeling like this. Feeling vulnerable and all girly and crap. Damn.

Bella wasn't seeing all of this, apparently, because she only laughed a little. "No. He just can't cook."

"I'll cook for him. You can teach me, right?"

"It must be love, Leah!"

I felt my skin heat. "Yeah. Told you last night that it was."

She stopped mixing the fruit in the bowl. "It better be. I am not sure he ever stopped loving my mom, you know. I – I know this may sound stupid, but I remember how it was for Embry and... I really don't want you to be unhappy, Leah. I really don't."

"Right now, I'm happy, Bells. Don't worry."

"Did you bring an extra set of clothes?" she asked after a few minutes.

"No, why? Is this okay?" I panicked all of a sudden. I was wearing – hell – a dress, of all things. A freaking dress. And sandals. Ha, Jake's imprint-the-model thought she was all that and then some, but I'm in great shape. Mom said so. "It's blue. You said he likes blue?"

She shook the whipped topping and sprayed it over the top of the bowl of fruit. "He does. You look amazing. I just meant, you know, in case you phased accidentally. So you would have something to wear? None of my stuff would, um, fit."

"I'll keep it together, Bells. I will. Honest."

We heard a car drive up and she darted to the kitchen window. "Okay. It's Charlie." Her eyes ran quickly over me before she all but jumped to me and tucked a lock of hair behind one of my ears. "There. Yeah. I like it." She giggled. "Alice Cullen will get a kick out of this when I tell her."

"You will not!" I didn't know she kept in touch with the leeches anymore. I guess I was wrong.

"Oh, I will. She'll be very happy for you. She loves my dad, too, you know."

"Ew! No. I did not need to hear that, Bells."

"Smile!"

The knock on the door told me why, but I'd heard Charlie's heartbeat as soon as he got out of the cruiser. I met Bella's eyes – she was smiling at me. Yeah, she thought this was funny. "You're as bad as the guys, you know that?" I shot at her.

"No secrets in the pack!" she whispered as she opened the door. "Hey, Charlie! You're early!"

"Even brought the beer, Bells. I mean, I know you're not drinking it or anything..." He came in and unbuckled his gun and holster, setting them on the table next to the door. "Hey, Leah," he said when he'd done that. His smile, again, was warm and made me all mushy inside.

"Hi, Charlie," I said, unable to keep back my own grin. And a stupid blush. _Come on!_ I growled to myself. _Don't start going all goofy_. I wanted to press myself against him and smell his skin, bury my nose against his throat and just inhale for a while. I wanted to feel his chest and back and give him a full body massage. Ohhhh yessss...

"Uh, Leah?"

I blinked and it was just the two of us in the room. "Yeah? Uh, where's Bells?"

"I'm saving the pork chops. Good thing my dad likes 'em well done."

"Well, it's pork, Bells. Of course it's got to be well done." Charlie stood there, looking around and then back at me. "Good to see you. So, how's things?"

"Great! Um, really great. Want to sit down or...?"

"Where are my grandkids?" he asked, moving to the sofa, not to Bella's rocking chair or the recliner. I wondered if he had his own chair, here. I would have to see if I could find one for him at my house. Mom would know where to look.

I followed him without even thinking about it, sitting down next to him and smoothing my dress over my thighs. Yes, he did notice and I had to bite back my smile. I might have made him uncomfortable. I could hear the subtle jump in his heart rate.

Still, that made me all excited anyway! I tried really hard not to squirm where I sat. "Embry took them in that two-fer stroller for a walk."

"It's a good day for it," Charlie said, his hands on his knees. I was so nervous to be sitting here with him, but so excited at the same time. I wanted to hold him and I wanted to laugh and dance and run but I couldn't do any of those things. He studied me a moment. "So why'd you cut your hair, Leah? I remember that you always had that long hair."

I couldn't say why, could I? _Because if I don't, my fur is all long and difficult to manage_ is not an answer he could handle. Yet. Maybe later? "It's just easier, this way," I said. "So, how was work, today? Anything funny happen at the station?"

He grinned, making his eyes twinkle and crinkle at the sides. My heart just melted. I felt ridiculously happy. "Funny you should ask," he said in a drawl. He then proceeded to tell me about a call that came in about a cat and dog face-off on Muskogee Lane in Forks. The pet owners were being antagonistic and a neighbor decided that a police presence was needed.

While he was telling me the story, I could hear Bella finishing plating dinner and then there came the sound of the stroller up the drive. I chuckled as Charlie painted a picture for me with his words. He was a keen observer and he noted way more than the average man would have, in such a situation. I was extremely happy to hear from him that his days were, by and large, uncomplicated. I wanted him to be safe.

And I wanted to make him happy. All _kinds_ of happy.

_I'm not sure he ever stopped loving my mom_, Bella had told me earlier. Well, I couldn't do anything about that, but unrequited love – as I knew from hard, painful experience – doesn't make someone happy. I wanted him happy. I could make him happy...if he would let me. I just needed him to know who I really was...

The door opened and Embry made a noisy production out of getting the stroller inside. I jumped up when Charlie did. As he hurried to take one of the babies – the girl, from the bow in her curly hair – from the stroller, I picked up Hemi. Just because he was there.

"He is a cutie," I told Embry as Charlie nuzzled Hennah's hair. My pack brother just shook his head and smiled at me and I knew the guys would be razzing me something hard, later. Stupid pack mind! Argh!

But then, Charlie looked over at me and grinned. "So I guess you guys get along okay, huh? You and the little guy?" He looked so happy about that and then, it hit me. Hard. Like – like one of those rocks they throw in track. A shot put. Yeah.

Hemeh was Charlie's grandson. If – if I married Charlie, it'd be like I was a step-grandmother to Bella and Embry's kids.

A grandmother? Before I even had kids of my own? Could I even have kids? Emily and I had talked about it, since I'd imprinted, but –

What. The. Hell? It was actually making me _happy_ to think about!

_How weird is this? How weird is my life? _ Heh, I'd be the youngest grannie on the Rez, that was for sure! If... If I... If I could do like Sam did, like Embry did, and win my imprint's love.

! O ! O !

"Okay, kids," Charlie said later, holding a beer bottle in one hand and cradling Hemi against his chest. I was sitting next to him again but he wasn't looking at me. "Spill it."

"What, Char- Dad?" Bella was in her nursing chair, but she wasn't feeding one of her children.

Then, Charlie exchanged a quick glance with me, as if he and I were on the same side or something. That made me feel stupidly like grinning. He could just _do_ that to me, and I didn't even know how. It was a look that said, C_an you believe these jokers?_

I shrugged, helpless to answer, unable to ignore him.

Then, Chief Swan made an appearance, handing the baby over to me without apparently even thinking about it. "Leah invites me to your house. You've gone all out and made a real nice dinner. Good beer. A pretty girl," he went on, nodding with half a smile to me, though his attention was focused on his daughter. "You and Embry have both been telling me all these nice stories about the Rez and everything. Don't think I don't appreciate it; I do." He then set the beer down on the small coffee table in front of his shins. "But I know a job when I see one. What is it you're softening me up for, eh, Bells?"

The words caught in my throat as both Embry and Bella directed their dark eyes to mine. I flushed, blood racing under my skin as I tried to find a way to say it. I could; he was my imprint. It wasn't the injunction that had me silent. It was just my nerves.

"Ch- Charlie," I breathed, clasping my hands together and praying that I wouldn't phase just from sheer anxiety. Did anyone ever _do_ that? Damn. Where were Sam and Emily when I needed them?

Emily. Oh, yeah. "Charlie," I said again, his name a pleasure for me to say, his attention focused entirely on me now. And even though he wasn't smiling, just knowing he was all there with me calmed me down. I breathed in and out and bent forward to pick up the smallish, leather-bound book Emily had given me. Gripping it, making sure I didn't rip it in the process, I gathered myself.

_C'mon, idiot_, I muttered to myself. _You can do this. You can!_

"What's the matter, Leah?" he said, his voice softer now, more coaxing. I relaxed a little as one of his hands covered mine. My breath hitched as he pressed my skin lightly. "Leah? You all right, hon? You feel a little feverish."

"I'm great," I said, the words blowing past my lips. "Just great. Honest. Mom's a nurse, remember. It's all good. Uh. Thing is, Charlie, there's some stuff happening you don't know about."

"I figured that much out, Leah. What is it? You in some kind of trouble?" His eyes were worried now, the handsome 'stache straight as he studied me.

I swallowed hard. "Okay. You know how Embry got with Bella last year?"

A nod. "Yeah. He's a damn sight better than that Cullen kid, I can tell you that," he went on, nodding with approval at his son-in-law. "And?"

"And how my ex, Sam, got with my cousin, Emily?"

Compassion passed over his face for a moment. "Yeah, I heard about that. What does that have to do with this nice dinner and the dress and all that, Leah Clearwater? Sure you're not in trouble? Is there something going on here in LaPush?"

"Yes!" I blurted. "Yes, there is."

"What is it?" He never lost the patient tone of voice, but I heard the edge of curiosity.

I slid the book to his lap from mine. "It's this. See, Charlie. Here, on the Rez, there's all the stories you've heard by the bonfires, you know?" At his nod, I continued while he watched my face. "There're stories. About Cold Ones. And you know that we all hated the Cullens, because of these stories, right?"

"Well, Cullens and Cold Ones do kinda sound the same, but what does that have to do with you, Leah? Or Embry and Bells?"

In a rush, my muscles demanded movement so I sprang up from the sofa and started pacing, giving little Hemeh to his mother in her chair. I don't know why Charlie rose to his feet too, but he did. Maybe he thought I was dangerous.

"Do you think I'm dangerous, Charlie?" I whispered, coming to a halt in front of him. I could almost taste the alert air about him. It was appealing. It was sexy. I got all hot just smelling him and I heard Embry shift uncomfortably behind me. Sorry, Em, I thought.

Charlie never took his eyes off of me. "Maybe, Leah. I know you've got me watching, anyway."

"I am, you know. Dangerous," I whispered with a nod to the book he still had in one hand. "My people are descended from wolves. And some of us... Some of our bodies haven't forgotten that, Charlie. Mine hasn't."

Worry and caution flickered in his eyes and over his facial muscles. He tossed the book to the sofa before darting looks to Embry and Bella. I couldn't follow where his eyes went, though; I was watching him. I had to.

He didn't believe me. Didn't want to believe me. "Charlie. The world is weird."

"I know it, Leah," he said, his voice soft and soothing. That wasn't going to cut it.

I shot, at last, a helpless glance to Embry. He nodded. He knew what was coming. He gathered the babies and headed back to the nursery.

"Bells?" Charlie asked, one eye still trained on me. I was the dangerous one.

Bella rocked up and put one hand on Charlie's shoulder. "Dad. I married a werewolf. Leah's one, too. The Cullens really are Cold Ones, vampires. And the werewolves protect us from them. And they find their wives – and husbands, I guess – because they're werewolves."

Charlie was shooting glances between me and Bella and, suddenly, I relaxed. "I am, you know, Charlie. And I – I think you Swans must have the best DNA in Washington because we Quileutes sure seem to be into you." I smiled – I couldn't help myself – and I moved away from him a little. "I know. It's hard to understand. I can't expect a law enforcement officer to take me at my word, either, so I'm gonna give you a little evidence." The guys were going to just love this, I knew.

"Ev- Evidence?" Charlie murmured, his hand gripping his daughter's, but his eyes still watching me.

Emily and Bella were going to laugh too. All the imprints would. I knew it. I only hoped that, one day, Charlie wouldn't hate me.

"Evidence," I murmured. And then, I don't know what it was, but something inside me cried out to touch him. To touch him one time before I went all furry and gave him a heart attack or made him run so far away from me that he'd never come back. "But first," I said, almost panting, "I really want to do something."

Neither of the humans were fast enough to stop me as I lunged toward my imprint and pressed myself against his tall, firm body. Without a second thought – hell, without barely a _first_ thought – I wrapped one arm around his neck and found his mouth with mine. The taste of him, his scent surrounding me even in a closed-mouth kiss was heaven. I felt my own body surge with a deep need for him. The need to let him possess me, to sink himself inside me. To ride him and scream his name and –

He was too stunned, I know, to react, but that was all right. I stayed there, feeling his heart pound frantically inside his chest – almost as hard as mine! I sensed his muscles tensing, though, and moved away. Quickly.

"Leah? What the hell?"

"Sorry, Charlie!" And then, I went all naked and furry right in front of him.

* * *

**A/N 2: So…what do you think will happen next? :) **

Thanks again for reading! See you soon! ~LJ


	5. Four: Reaction

**A/N: Hello! Wow, I am so excited that you are liking my Leah and Charlie story so far! Thank you for the adds and rec's and especially the reviews! I love to hear what you're thinking!**

**We left Leah in the Calls' living room, where she had just kissed Charlie and then phased right in front of him. For the record, she did get "naked and furry" but that's because she IS naked when she's furry. Just clearing that up. ;-)**

**Thanks for reading! ~LJ**

* * *

_**Four: Reaction**_

"What the hell, Leah!" That's my Charlie; he took the evidence straight in the face.

And reached for his gun. Which, thankfully, was on the other side of the living room. I crouched as low to the floor as I could, my tail wagging and making a rhythmic sound on the black recliner. I smelled the scent of babies this low to the floor, but mostly I smelled sweat. That _nasty_ sweat. The adrenaline-laced scent of fear.

I had scared my imprint. My heart crunched in my chest and I whined. _ Sorry, Charlie! _

_So you phased for him? _

_Sam!_ I had never been so happy to be in my Alpha's brain.

_I can see he's all right. Good. You should probably phase back and reassure him, Leah. Would you like Emily and me to join you? _

_Bella and Embry are here, see? _ I made sure to shift my focus to Bella, who was moving, now, to stand near me. _Watch this, Sam ~_

"Bells!" Charlie said, sounding firm and sexy and hot and – Ah, hell, I just couldn't help myself. Was this sick or what? _It's not bestiality if I'm hot for a human, is it?_

_No. You're the first one of us who asked, though_. I heard Sam laughing in the way we had, in his head.

I growled really quietly. _Jerk._

Charlie's tone was calm; he sounded like one of those guys on a police show. Very smooth. The kind of "never let 'em see ya sweat" tone of voice. "So this what all this is all about? This...?"

I kept my belly on the floor and wiggled. I just wanted to – _to lick Charlie's face_, really. But I couldn't. Stupid tiny living room. I angled my head to look at Bella straight on and she tore her eyes from her dad and tried to figure out what I wanted. _The book_, I tried to tell her. _Show him the book! _

_Where is it? _

Sam's question was unexpected and I would've hit myself in the freaking forehead if I had been in my human skin. I chuffed a little when my focus dropped to the small coffee table. The book was there. I sniffed loudly and chuffed again. _Sam! This trying to talk to humans stuff is crap._

_You didn't think this would be easy, did you, Leah?_

"She's not gonna hurt you, Dad." Finally, Bella seemed to get what I was telling her and she bent to get the book off the table. "Look. This is for you. I have one, too."

Charlie didn't take his eyes off of me. "One of what?" His face was blank, but that was all right. I figured he was doing what a good cop would do when presented with a freak of nature. Bella pushed the leather-covered book into his hands and he held it in front of him, but still didn't look at it.

I got really nervous all of a sudden and I felt my fur vibrate all over my body. _Sam? What should I do?_

_He's seen you, Leah. Why don't you phase human again and talk to him_.

_Okay_.

I rose slowly to my full, four-legged height. I wasn't as big as Embry, but I was taller than Bella, anyway. Charlie's eyes widened and his focus shifted to the gun hanging on a hook by the front door across the room, but he stayed where he was. I tried to duck my head and not look scary.

Right. Like a flippin' _werewolf_ could manage not to look _scary_! Hell. I wanted to phase back but where could I do that? I whined again.

"Embry?"

"Embry?" Charlie repeated, sounding stunned. As if – well, yeah, as if he'd seen a big furry mythological creature show up in front of his nose. "Wait. You mean...?"

"Like Leah was trying to tell you, Dad," Bella said, tapping the book Charlie was still holding. He finally glanced down at it just as Embry showed up, frowning.

"Leah," the man of the house stated, his voice flat. "Come on. I need you out of your fur."

I tried to roll my wolf eyes at him. Sam just laughed in my mind.

_Shut up!_ I told the Alpha. _You get your furry ass over here and help if you can't do anything else but make me the butt of male idiocy._

Bella cleared her throat. "Embry, why don't you take Charlie back to the nursery?"

Embry's face heated. I could see it. And then, suddenly, so did Charlie's. My imprint blushed just like his daughter and rubbed at the back of his neck.

"Uh. Yeah. Lemme see my grandkids." Embry handed over Hennah and the two of them went down the hall. "A werewolf, Embry? Really?"

"Yeah, Charlie. Remember when Bella was tutoring me?"

I tried to keep listening but Bella crossed the room and found my blue sundress. "At least you got this off, Leah. I know...you couldn't hardly strip in front of my dad. I think he got an eyeful with your bra, you know! Here, phase and slip your dress on. Will you be okay if you don't have, um, panties?"

Now, if it had been _Embry_ in there, I wouldn't have been embarrassed at all. The entire pack had seen me naked and I'd seen all of them. It sucked, but it was life, you know?

_You could just take the dress and –_

_And what, O Mighty Alpha? Leave through the front door? Dash to the master bedroom? Are you kidding me?_

_Never mind_, Sam conceded. _ I'll phase back and let Emily know. Want us to come over? _

_Nah. I'm good_. _ I hope I am anyway,_ I thought as I felt Sam leave my head. Males.

Bella tossed my dress to the black recliner I'd been thumping with my stupid tail, earlier. I chuffed my thanks to her. She might not be able to understand everything, but I guess she'd been mated to a werewolf long enough that she didn't need translations for everything.

"It's okay, Leah. Really. The lingerie's done for, though. Sorry. I'm guessing it's not the first time."

I didn't answer. Instead, I knelt and found my human shape in my mind. Reminding my body what I was supposed to look like, dammit, and shifting my wolf shape to match the human woman. My body shrank in the Calls' living room. The fur smoothed away and took with it the claws on my hands and feet. My short hair fell around my face and I shook it, rising slowly to my feet. The feel of the air around me was different, yeah.

I had to chuckle as I reached for the dress on the chair. "This is weird," I told Bella.

"Well, it is for me," she said, her smile obvious in her voice. "I've only ever seen the guys naked before."

"And I've only done this outside before," I told her, tugging the dress over my head and zipping up the back. "I hate going commando."

My gaze crossed hers as I turned. Nerves began bouncing under my skin. "So? Does he hate me? Will he keep the secret? What should I do, Bells?"

Isabella Call sighed a little wistfully. "I haven't a clue."

"You're a hell of a lot of help," I muttered, tugging at my dress. Without my panties, I was really uncomfortable. I inhaled deeply, drawing the scent of the house into my nose and smelled him. The scared-sweat smell was gone, mostly, and Charlie's usual leather and laundry detergent smell was back and it was _fine_ with me.

I closed my eyes and smiled. Oh yeah. Without really thinking about it, I took off past Bella and, well, followed my nose. I wound up outside the nursery door, the scent of babies rolling out. Powder and diapers and wipes and Hemeh and Hennah. And Embry and my imprint. "Hey, Charlie," I managed to say over the sudden lump in my throat. Hell of a time to be nervous.

He darted his glance to me and his lips thinned. "Leah." Without taking his eyes off of me, he set Hennah down in her crib, a white-barred piece covered in brightly colored sheets. "We need to talk."

My mouth went totally dry. I couldn't even have spit if I had to. With a pounding heart, I watched him pick up Emily's book and I walked down the hall toward the front door. Bella was there, giving me a thumbs-up.

"Charlie?" She intercepted her dad and reached for his gun-belt. "I'll just hang on to this 'til you're done, okay?"

"Uh-huh. Embry too?"

Bella's smile was as warm as her dad's and I tried to inhale over the sudden tight band in my chest. "Embry too. And I didn't even have a book, Dad."

I could sense Charlie's concern for his daughter and I got all melty inside. He was a great dad and a loving man and I saw his hands surround Bella's shoulders and sighed inside myself. His voice was low and rumbling when he said, "I had no idea, honey. I never meant for you to be in any danger."

Ouch. "Charlie," I whispered, reaching out just to touch him. Just to lay a hand on his back. "She wasn't. You aren't, either. All I want is for you to be happy, really happy."

He turned back to me, his hands at his sides, and the doubt in his eyes hurt like a knuckle-punch. "Why me, huh? Why _Bella_?"

"You – you're our imprints, Charlie." My breath came way too fast as I pointed to the book he still held. "It's in there. Emily and Sam can talk to you too, and I can answer any questions you have. We have to keep a lot secret, you know, from most everybody, but I can tell _you_ anything!" The joy of that made me smile like the tribal idiot, but I didn't care because I wanted Charlie to feel like this could be a good thing. The _best_ thing.

I was crushed when he didn't smile back. I felt a wolfy sort of whine in my throat, but I swallowed it down. He pursed his lips at an angle and eyed me like he might a kid he caught speeding on a scooter or something in town. "Come on, then. Answer some of my questions. I've got a few."

"Sure! Yeah! Come on!" I shot a hopeful smile at Bella and led the way out of the house. Only to remember, with a puff of salt-scented air, that I was totally bare underneath my dress. And damn, it was not a good time to be that way. Hell, I wanted to –

Never mind. It wasn't about what _I_ wanted and I had to remember that.

We walked out to stand next to the police cruiser. There was going to be almost a full moon that night, but the clouds that were out still caught the light from the sun that had set over the ocean. I could hear the waves crashing, even this far from the beach. It was so peaceful. I tried to calm my insides, because I felt like a pair of big fists were squishing everything I had.

"Where d'you want to start, Charlie?" I asked. It was about _him_.

He stood with his feet spread apart a little. "I don't know what an imprint is, Leah. Want to enlighten me?"

The tone of his voice was one hundred percent law enforcement. I swallowed. "Uh, it's in the book, Charlie. I'm guessing Emily – Emily Uley, Sam's wife, you know?"

"I know her, yeah."

"She probably explained it better than I could." I couldn't help it; my palms were itching and I just wanted to touch him. Nuzzle his skin. Taste him... _Get a grip, Clearwater,_ I growled at myself.

He crossed his arms in front of his broad chest. "I'd rather hear it from you first, if you don't mind."

I swallowed and reminded myself that he really did deserve to hear it from me. He did. "Look, first you need to know that none of us asked to be – to be werewolves, Charlie." His eyes narrowed at that word, but I didn't take it back. We were who we were. "And some of us imprinted. Honest, no one ever thought I would, so this is kind of like the highlight of my year, you know?" He angled one brow at me, just like Bella did sometimes, and I felt my lips curve in a smile. His focus dropped briefly to those lips and my smile widened just a little. That was _good_! "Um. Imprints. Well." _Damn, this is hard. _"In nature, you know, ducks imprint, right?" He nodded, saying nothing. "They do it to help 'em survive and learn how to be ducks." I had looked it up after finding out about Sam and Emily, once I joined the pack. "So with us, some of us imprint to help our – our genes survive, Charlie. Um. Like Sam did on Emily. And Embry on Bella. And now, they've got twins!" I was practically panting with nerves, my mouth still dry like – like a desert, not the beach. "Wives, you know?"

I knew the exact moment when Charlie got it. He wasn't an idiot – not my imprint! His lips parted under the 'stache and his eyebrows lifted way the hell up into his forehead. "Wives. Imprints. You mean you – me – we – Have to...?" I could feel his skin heating and his heart thunder in his chest. I wanted to feel that...wanted to feel everything...

But it wasn't about _me_!

"No! We don't have to do anything!" I blurted, reaching to him with both hands, feeling the cool air go up my dress and remind me how hot my lady bits were getting with all of the hormones and stuff that night. It was a damned good thing Charlie didn't have a wolf's nose! "I want you to be happy, Charlie. That's all. That's all any of us want. None of the imprints had to do anything they didn't want to do. They're not the ones that imprinted," I added more quietly, leaning heavily back against the cruiser. My eyes dropped to the ground. "It's only a – a compulsion for us. For the wolves. Me and Sam and Paul and Jared and Embry. All the girls had a choice. Don't worry. Bella fell in love with Embry just like girls do."

But would _my_ imprint fall in love with _me_? I felt a stinging in my eyes and blinked hard.

"I'll read the book, Leah. I'm going to be checking this out, though, you know? I don't know what to tell you. Hell... I mean, damn." He smacked his thigh with the leather-covered guidebook. "Look. I don't doubt anything you're tellin' me, okay? You're Harry's daughter and I know you. But." His voice softened from the cop tone and became more soothing, almost coaxing. "Hey, Leah. Look at me."

_Damn it! _The guys never wanted to cry when they told their imprints about this stuff. Ever. I was _so_ going to hear about this, I knew it. Charlie had asked me to look at him, though. He wanted to look me in the eye and even if it was really hard, I had to do it. So I did. Stood up straight and tall and reminded myself that my dad would be proud of me and he'd totally support this. He would. I knew it. "Yeah?"

His face had softened, too. "I believe you. I do. But I have to wrap my head around this. Think it out, okay?"

Did I have a choice? "Okay, Charlie. Whatever you need."

He cleared his throat and scratched the back of his neck. Discomfort almost radiated from him. I wanted to hug him. Nothing more. Not just now. Just hold him and tell him it was going to be all right. "Fine. What, uh. Is there anything you need? I remember –" He exhaled on a huge breath and I smelled Vitamin R and that fruit salad stuff I had made earlier. "I remember that Embry was all of a sudden around an awful lot, last year."

I saw movement across the road, where there was a line of trees. I guessed it was one of the guys in their fur, making sure I was still here with Charlie. Nosy bastards. "Yeah, that's what I heard," I mumbled.

"So, do you need to come over or something?"

Hope sort of flowed over me like the spray of a really good shower. I felt my muscles relax and I leaned back against the police car again. "That would be great. Uh, yeah. We have this, um. It's really good if we can see our imprints regularly, Charlie. I – I'd like to see you, yeah. Maybe I could, um, cook dinner for you? I mean, I could come up to Forks or you could come down to my house or I could bring lunch by the station or –" I was grinning again, but I didn't want to stop myself. Just knowing he believed me and he wanted to see me was _great_.

He laughed a little and I felt all kinds of better. "Hang on, girl. Hang on. Okay. We'll figure something out, all right? Lunch? Tomorrow?"

"Yeah! I'll bring you something. Maybe leftovers... No, not those." I smiled at Charlie. "We, uh, don't have a lot of leftovers. You may have figured that out."

"I like a woman with an appetite, Leah."

My skin went all hot and I couldn't look at him anymore. "Um. Yeah. So, lunch. I'll bring something to the station. Will you – will you read that book, Charlie?"

"I'm gonna do more than that, I guarantee you. This is – this is out there. I need some time to think and check this out, all right?"

"Anything you need, Charlie. Honest."

"So I don't want any, uh, of that furry stuff until I've got a better idea of what's happening. Hell, Leah, I would've shot you if I'd had my piece."

"I know. I am really sorry if I scared you, Chief."

Then, he did something I didn't even expect. He caught my chin on one of his fingers and my heart jumped. "I like it better when you call me _Charlie_."

Stupid blush. _I'm worse than Bella!_ "Uh, sure, Charlie. Whatever you want. I'm serious. No furry stuff. No wolf talk. I'll call you Charlie. Same as always. Right? Until you're ready to talk about it."

"Thanks, kid."

I felt really brave and put my hand on his shoulder, stepping almost close enough to touch him. "Hey, Charlie? I like it better when you call me _Leah_."

* * *

**A/N: So... Did Charlie surprise you or not? You'll get to hear from him in the very last chapter. Which isn't yet. Sorry!**


	6. Five: Can't Comfort by Remote Control

**A/N: I am so amazed and thankful for all the great reviews and the adds to your lists! I am ESPECIALLY grateful to whomever it was that nominated Never Saw That Coming for Best Imprint at The Silent Tear Awards! Voting is now open, and the link is on my profile page, if you're so inclined!**

**Thanks so much for reading! ~LJ**

* * *

_From Chapter Four:_

_Then, he did something I didn't even expect. He caught my chin on one of his fingers and my heart jumped. "I like it better when you call me Charlie."_

_Stupid blush. I'm worse than Bella! "Uh, sure, Charlie. Whatever you want. I'm serious. No furry stuff. No wolf talk. I'll call you Charlie. Same as always. Right? Until you're ready to talk about it."_

_"Thanks, kid."_

_I felt really brave and put my hand on his shoulder, stepping almost close enough to touch him. "Hey, Charlie? I like it better when you call me Leah."_

_

* * *

_

_**Five: Can't Comfort by Remote Control!**_

"Leah? What is this mess?"

"Tuna salad! What the hell do you _think_ it is, _Emeril_?"

Seth picked up the bowl where I had been trying to make something edible for Charlie's lunch. He took a long sniff, really hamming it up. "Dead cat?"

_Jerk! _Embarrassed fury vibrated just under my skin. "Shut up! Just - just go, okay? And hey, you're eating it for dinner, so just find a taste for _cat_."

Seth set the bowl down with exaggerated slowness and backed out of the kitchen, making a big show of being afraid of me. "Oh, I am so scared, Leah. I'll order pizza for tonight."

"Oh, no. You're not running through Mom's paycheck like that just because you have delicate digestion. You're a wolf, dammit. You can totally suck it up, Cub."

He disappeared before I could change my mind and throw the bowl full of tuna salad after him. As the screen door slammed behind him, I grimaced at the mushy, sticky smelly stuff in the metal mixing bowl. "He's right. It smells like crap." I checked the clock. I had time to run to the Ateara's store and pick up something else. Or I could call Bells.

"I'll be right over," she said, laughing at me. Twit. "But you'll have to babysit."

"Bella! I have to learn to do this myself!" I heard one of the kids cry in the background and winced. Babysitting? Me? But they were Charlie's grandkids, so...yeah. "I just need you to make sure this is right, really."

"I know you do, Leah. But you're running out of time if you're going to get this to the station in time for lunch. We can practice later."

It didn't take too long for her to get both of the kids packed up and to drive over to our house. It would have been faster for me to run to her, but I had to change, and then I would have had to run back to get my car and then drive into Forks. Hell of a lot of work for a tuna sandwich on wheat!

"Next time, why don't you pick something up?" Bella suggested as I tucked two sandwiches, a bottle of Coke and an apple into a small cooler. Along with a slice of Bella's double-chocolate brownies, because she said I had to learn to bake those, too.

"No. I gotta do this myself. I have to. I want him to – want him to know he matters, Bells." I smoothed my hair in the mirror closest to the front door and blew out a breath. Damn it, I was stupid-nervous. Just because I was going to see Charlie for the first time since he knew about me was no reason to be nervous.

Bella smiled up at me as she hefted her diaper bag to her shoulder. "He won't help but know it, Leah. Just be patient."

I darted a glance to her, meeting her eyes and seeing the encouragement I needed in them. "Okay. Thanks."

And I was off. All the way into town, I reminded myself about the no wolf-talk thing. No pushing. Nothing other than dropping off lunch for Charlie at the police station. He'd shake my hand, I was pretty sure. He had seemed open to that much, anyway. And he had touched me all on his own, the other night. His hand at my jaw...

A horn blared and I jumped behind the wheel of my Maxima. Green light. Crap. "Sorry!" I yelled. "Daydreaming freak, here!" I _was_ sorry. I needed to focus._ If you're in an accident, idiot... _ _Focus! _

I did, all the way to the station, where I pulled into visitor parking and took one last, deep breath. My heart was trying to stage a break-out as I hooked my purse over my shoulder and grabbed the cooler. Hair was good. I was wearing a white top and skinny jeans. I checked my reflection in my car window before I got brave enough to storm the police station. _You can do this._

The station was fronted with brick and had standard glass doors that opened onto stained linoleum tiles. I could smell stale sweat, old cigarette smoke that lingered near the entrance, and the faint, nasty stink of food tossed in trashcans. It was not where I'd want to spend a majority of my time, for sure. There weren't a lot of cops here in Forks, so there weren't a lot of desks, but there were two guys walking around in uniforms and a secretary at a computer in the middle of an open work space. File cabinets lined one wall and chairs were tossed around. Looked like high school. Smelled like a locker room. But still, there was a sense of purpose, here. Not too much tension, but there were some curious looks when I came in.

"Can I help you?" the receptionist asked, looking at me as if she thought I was with a tour group and got lost. I didn't know her name, but she looked to be about forty and she had short, dark red hair and bulging blue eyes.

I remembered I had to get along with these people. I never wanted Charlie to be ashamed of me, and that meant no sharp comebacks. Yet. "Hi, I'm Leah Clearwater and I'm here to see Chief Swan," I said, trying to sound as if it was the most normal thing in the world for me to be there. With lunch. For the hottest police chief in Washington. "Is he here?"

The woman – the name on the plate in front of her said her name was J. Raiser – eyed me up and down again. Picked up her phone and punched a button. "Chief? There's a girl here to see you?"

"Oh?" I heard Charlie's voice and my whole body turned to see him. He was just across the way, in a glass-walled office with the door open. He saw me through the glass and smiled as he beckoned me with his hand. I heard him say, "Jackie, she's clear. Thanks."

Miss Bulging Eyeballs blinked a few times as she hung up the phone. "He said you can go in. Do you know where his office is?"

I made myself smile at her as if I hadn't a brain in my head. "I think so. The one where he's sitting, waving to me?"

The receptionist blushed and muttered something about obnoxious brats. I smiled, tossed my head like Jake's imprint might do, the bitch, and stepped around her desk to the office where my imprint was waiting for me.

His heart accelerated a little – that was good. My own was flying. Here, he knew all about me now – I had hoped he'd read the book, but wasn't going to ask – and he was smiling. I figured this had to be a plus.

Didn't it?

"Hey, Charlie," I said softly as I stepped in. "Brought you some lunch." I felt torn. Part of me felt like I was about fifteen and going to meet my Big Crush behind the library at school. The other part of me was hot. Hot and excited to see my imprint. I wanted to climb on his lap and unbutton his uniform and... I shook off the pictures in my head, promising myself to show them to the guys, later. I totally owed those jerks. "Tuna salad sandwiches."

His dark eyes dropped to the styrofoam cooler I held in one hand and then bounced back to my face. His mustache twitched a little as he started to smile. "Hey, Leah. Good to see you."

I inhaled deeply through my nose, picking up that fresh, virile scent he carried with him everywhere, combined with old coffee, computer ink and paper. "Thanks. Hungry?" I asked, hoping I wasn't too late. I moved forward and lifted the lid from the cooler. It made a plastic squeaking sound that had me wincing.

"Pretty much always am," Charlie murmured, studying me steadily for a moment before rising to lean over his desk and peek into the cooler. "Two sandwiches? Eating with me, Leah?"

I blushed. "Um, no. I just wanted to make sure you had enough, Charlie. That's all. Here," I said, picking up one of the wrapped sandwiches to hand to him.

He reached for it, but stopped again, his hands awkward as his cheeks heated and his heart sped again. Then, he took my hand in both of his and looked at it, his eyes following my arm past my elbow to my shoulder and then to my face. Goosebumps jumped out all over and I was practically panting. Those hands... Warm, if not too much so against my stupid feverish skin. Hard in all the right places, his fingers curled around mine and seemed to smooth over my skin as he slid the sandwich between my almost twitching fingers.

_Want want want want!_ I was chanting in my head. _Oh Charlie, if only...!_

"Hand that over, then, if you want. No need for you to hold on to it. It's kind of awkward, isn't it?"

"Not at all! I was really happy to do this. Let me lay this out for you and I'll just take it home and use it again next time, okay?" I sounded pathetic. I sounded breathless. My skin wanted to jump off my body and leap to his.

He leaned back and smiled a little at the soda and apple. "You've been talking to Bells, right?"

My skin fired up again. "Is it that obvious? I just knew that she knew what you'd like. Did I get it right?"

He seemed to consider my question, his face set in a manner I couldn't remember having seen before, on him. Not in all the years I'd known him. "Yes, this is great, Leah. Thanks." He leaned back in the black, fake-leather chair and pursed his lips so that his 'stache twitched again. "I, uh, read that book," he finally murmured, his mouth barely moving. "The one you gave me. We need to talk."

Ice formed in my guts. "Sure, whatever you need. Whenever you want," I whispered. What if he hated me?

No, no he didn't. I could still catch that _scent_. But that didn't mean I'd get to climb on his lap anytime soon, either.

He nodded once, sharply, as if he'd come to a decision. "I'll be down tonight to talk to Billy and Sam – that's okay, isn't it?" His eyes shone with concern – concern for me, concern that I had no right to expect from him – as he asked. I nodded. He continued. "All right, good. So, I'll be meeting with them. And Jake, if he's around. If we're not running too late, I'll call, all right? Unless you – you're busy?"

"I've got patrol tonight," I told him, holding myself very still. Talking about me running around in my fur was not something I was used to. Yet. "But Sam can, ah, get in touch with me any time, you know."

Charlie looked away suddenly and rubbed at the back of his neck. "So that really works?"

I nodded, leaning forward just a little. "Go ahead and ask him. We've got no secrets from you anymore."

"I might just do that, Leah."

Sensing that he needed to be left to think about that some more, I bounced up to my feet and put the styrofoam lid back on the cooler. "Okay! Well, um, so maybe I'll hear from you tonight?" Then, I blushed. I sounded so pathetic! Like a middle-school girl with braces talking to the star of the basketball team. "Or not. It's okay. You have my number and you know you can come over any time. I'd love to see you." Dammit! I used the "L" word. I never wanted to even breathe it to him until he was comfortable with me. Damn, damn, damn!

He rose, too, and came out from behind his desk. He walked me to the door! The door of the whole station! Everyone could see us! Together! I was shocked, amazed, happy, practically doing my six-year-old dance even as I felt like I wanted to hide in the shelter of his body. Just because I could feel at least half a dozen pair of eyes on me. Then, he opened the door and he kept walking! With me! Out to my car!

I stopped at the driver's door and tried to keep breathing normally, though my mouth was dry and my body was just pulsing, practically. "You know," he said, his voice slow and measured, "I haven't had anyone bring me lunch in a long time. It's not something I really thought about. But – but it's nice. Thank you."

"You're welcome."

* * *

Sometimes, it totally sucked to be a werewolf.

Sam took his half-sister – the Bitch Model who was _abandoning_ the werewolf who had _imprinted_ on her – to the airport but he made it back from Seattle just in time for Charlie to get to Billy's house. I was really nervous when I was running patrol. I wanted to just circle the house and listen.

I didn't.

_Come on, Leah. Charlie's not in any danger, you know. _

_Not helping, Jared. _ I threw him a bunch of my images from the police station earlier, and how I had felt about my imprint. In retaliation, he shared with me some of his afternoon's acrobatic activities with his imprint. Stop it right the hell now! I growled as we split to head north and south. I went south, to run the border by the old Cullen place.

Hours later, Sam and Jake both phased and showed me what had happened. Charlie was actually taking notes in Emily's book and Sam invited him to come to the next bonfire.

Why hadn't I thought of that? Damn! Well, I sure planned on being there. And I'd bring a blanket. Because unless things changed a lot between now and a week or so from now, my 108 body temperature was not going to be wrapped around him. _Damn_.

Then, there was the hard stuff. The stuff I saw from Embry.

_"Bells, I don't even know what to say. Vampires? Werewolves? Hell, honey, you were in danger every day for months with that Cullen kid and you never said anything to me." The pain in his voice, as heard by Embry, sliced right through me. "How many times did you have to lie to cover up for him? How many times?"_

_"Charlie. Dad. I had to keep the secret. Look, what that book doesn't tell you is that it's dangerous to know about the vampires. Alice told me about that, not too long ago. I had to keep the secret to keep you safe. Now that you're an imprint like me, though, you're protected by the Pack." Bella made it sound so easy. _

_"__**I**__ should have been protecting you. But you didn't give me a chance. And Billy! Hell, I've known him forever and he never said __**anything**__." The Chief of Police never sounded like this in front of anyone, I knew, so I felt like a spy when Embry showed me what he had heard when he was back with Hemi and Hennah. I whined in my throat and buried my head under my forelegs as the memory continued. "I appreciate that this is all need-to-know and all that, Isabella, but I am your father. I needed to know."_

_"No you didn't! Embry's own mom still doesn't know," Bella whispered. It was soft, but loud enough that Embry could pick it up. I saw my pack brother's hand rubbing his daughter's back but I could tell his attention was on the conversation in the living room. Steps sounded on the floor. "Charlie, stop. I couldn't tell you."_

_"I can't believe the Cullens let you get mixed up in all that."_

_"It's over, Dad. They're gone. And if they do come back, it won't be until you and I and probably Hemi and Hennah are both gone. And maybe my grandson will be in charge of the treaty, maybe Jake's." There was a pause and only a wolf could have picked up the next two words. "Maybe Leah's."_

When I heard that through Embry's memory, I rolled and ran in a circle underneath the cover of the Sitka spruce in the forest.

_Easy there, Leah,_ Embry advised, a light laugh running through his mind. _He's still feeling pretty sore about all of this._

_I know, but he'll handle it fine, Embry. I know him. _

_Heh. You wish! In the Biblical sense! _

_I do wish. And your imprint is helping me!_

_Hell! If this works you'll be my mother-in-law!_

_Life's a bitch and so am I!_ I ran through the night as he phased back to his own skin. I ran the long way around so I could stay in my fur as I went to Charlie's house. I would wait for him and make sure he got home all right before I went home myself. Worry thudded in my chest and itched in my head, but pride was there, too, and compassion and love.

Love. I had loved Sam Uley, once upon a time, but this was so much more. It was everything.

I heard Charlie's cruiser pull up just as I reached the trees that marked the edge of his property. Panting heavily, my chest heaved in and out as my imprint unfolded himself slowly from behind the steering wheel. I poked my nose out from between the trees, inhaling deeply, drawing his scent to me, combined with the scent of the trees and the dew-damp ground.

Charlie paced to his front door, his head down. I chuffed at him, hurting for him deep in my chest. _Stupid!_ I yelled internally at myself. _Stupid idiot! You're gonna scare him and he'll fire that gun and you'll have to get someone to dig a bullet out of you and he'll have to report it but he won't and he'd feel just awful, and –_

"Luh - Leah?" He interrupted my inner beat-down with a surprised whisper. "Is that – is that you?"

I barked like a freaking puppy and my stupid damn tail wagged hard enough to knock some twigs to the ground. Charlie's whole posture changed at the sound he heard and I was tickled all the way down to my claws when he changed course and crossed in front of his house, passing the garage and the side yard to where I waited. He's coming to me, he's coming to me, he's coming to me!

He was close enough to sniff and he held out his hand to me. "Hey."

I did it. _I licked his hand. _ And I felt ridiculously smug about it, too!

He laughed and actually ran his hand over my head and down my jaw. I closed my eyes and growled low in my chest.

"I'll call you tomorrow, Leah. Goodnight."


	7. Six: Trying it on for size

**A/N: Sorry for being so slow on the update! I've been working on this story, a birthday story (private showing only, with a more extensive lemon than I am used to), a fic for the Nashville Flood Relief project, a pair of auction fics, and ... wow... having a life and even beta'ing for bookishqua's amazing, amazing story, **_**Cullenary Coupling**_**. (I thought it was amazing before I was a beta for her. I didn't start THAT 'til chapter fifty....!)**

**So please forgive! Thank you so much!**

**

* * *

**

_Where we left off:_

_"Luh - Leah?" He interrupted my inner beat-down with a surprised whisper. "Is that – is that you?"_

_I barked like a freaking puppy and my stupid damn tail wagged hard enough to knock some twigs to the ground. Charlie's whole posture changed at the sound he heard and I was tickled all the way down to my claws when he changed course and crossed in front of his house, passing the garage and the side yard to where I waited. He's coming to me, he's coming to me, he's coming to me! _

_He was close enough to sniff and he held out his hand to me. "Hey."_

_I did it. I licked his hand. And I felt ridiculously smug about it, too!_

_He laughed and actually ran his hand over my head and down my jaw. I closed my eyes and growled low in my chest. _

_"I'll call you tomorrow, Leah. Goodnight."_

_

* * *

_

**Six: Trying it on for size.**

"You know, I have been to one of these things before," Charlie muttered over my head as we settled in for the bonfire. It was the first Saturday night of August and we were, as tradition seemed to indicate, gathering to share the old legends. These legends were so much more, now. More than simply a cheap way to keep us kids busy and give the tribal elders something to do, the bonfires were the first and best way to teach the growing generations about the strange secrets of our tribe.

I nudged my imprint and shrugged. "It's different the first time that you know. Trust me."

Embry, Bella and the kids were crunching up the sandy soil, each carrying one of the twins. Bella curved off in a slight detour. Embry squinted into the sunset; Bella was wearing sunglasses.

"Dad, hey. Good to see you." She leaned forward and brushed a kiss on Charlie's head and little Hennah reached out to grab some of her his hair. "Hey, that's enough. Be nice to Grampa."

Charlie smiled at me but I could see a question in his eyes. An _Are you sure?_ kind of look. It challenged me so that I grinned right back at him while gently – When the hell did I get gentle? – disentangled a tiny bronze hand from curly brown hair. I tried to send him an _Oh, I'm sure _look right back.

Don't know if he caught it, but my man is kind of cagey that way.

"Do you need us to move, Bells?" Charlie asked, eyeing his son-in-law, the kids and the bags Bella and Embry both carried.

Embry chuckled. "Nope, Charlie. We're good. Auntie Emily said she'd save a place for us over there," he said, nodding at another knotted, salt-crusted log that was casting a long, long shadow in the setting sun.

As everyone plopped down around the bonfire circle, Charlie studied them. I knew that look. It was his _cop_ look. The "I'm checking out the usual suspects and taking notes," look he had had when talking to Sam and Billy about the wolf stuff.

"What's the matter?" I asked softly, leaning into him as closely as I dared without making him feel too uncomfortable.

He turned to look me in the eye before his gaze dropped to my hands, which were laced together at my knees on top of my jeans. "I feel like I should be over there with the tribal elders or something, Leah. You – all the rest of 'em – you're all so..."

I placed one finger on his lips. "Shh. Don't even. The imprint is perfect. You're supposed to be here," with me, I tagged on silently, "and everyone knows it. No one thinks you're out of place."

I remembered, though, how the guys had given me a hard time at the last big pack meeting.

S_o, you've got yourself an older man, huh, Leah?_ Paul had said, razzing me.

_Hotter than any guy on the Rez_, I shot back, my hackles rising as my pack brother sat on his haunches and chuffed. _You're with an older woman, you know. Good thing Jake isn't here to remind you of that._

_Yeah! Jake's doing Sam and Embry's sister! Ew!_

Embry, Mr. Mellow, snorted through his muzzle. _Shut up, Jared. I'm still faster'n you_. Which was true. Jake – the hereditary Alpha of our pack – had been the biggest and strongest, but even Embry was faster than Jake.

_We are _not_ talking about Cassi. C'mon, guys. You know better._ Sam was usually pretty strict about talking about our imprints.

Except – _What, Sam? That's really sexist of you. Protect Cassi but not Charlie? What the hell is up with that?'_

Sam snorted and I could feel his annoyed amusement in my head. _Okay, no more picking on Charlie, either. Now, let's talk about that scent Quil picked up on patrol_.

Hints about "old men" and geriatric sex and stuff were still tossed in my direction, but they were in fun. Charlie was too sexy to be considered geriatric, even if he was a grandpa.

"I guess you don't need a jacket," he joked, running the back of his forefinger down my upper arm. I caught my breath and fought not to close my eyes in appreciation. Damn, the man just had to barely touch me and I was all hot and bothered.

"Nope," I managed to answer. "You warm enough?"

"Just fine, thanks."

Everyone settled in and Sue began the evening, followed by Billy and even Old Quil, telling the old stories for us. I noticed that they had adjusted things somewhat since a female had become a werewolf and imprinted. Ha! "That part's new," I whispered next to Charlie's ear.

His heart jumped in his chest. I _loved_ my amazing hearing.

After the stories had been told, we broke out the food. Always the big draw for my pack brothers. And me. I remembered that Charlie said he liked a woman with an appetite and it was a huge relief to not feel conspicuous when I reached for a third hot dog.

"Can I get you anything else?" I asked him. He had a hot dog and a beer and Bella had tossed him a small bag of chips.

"I'm good, Leah. Thanks."

"Cool." With a glance at Emily, I cocked my head and before Charlie had finished his beer, the rest of the imprints had gathered around us. "Hey," I said to them in welcome.

They all smiled way too broadly at me and Charlie. I stood just behind him with my hands on his shoulders. It just felt right and he didn't shrug me off or anything so I figured he was okay with it. "Charlie, these are the other imprints." I called them by name and they each nodded at Charlie, still all grinning like idiots. "I promise they're not gonna want to ask you about nail polish."

Charlie laughed a little and I could feel him move under my hands. _Mmm...love that_. "I did read that book, Leah. Uh, thanks for that, Emily," he said with a nod to her. "It's, uh, helped. Yeah."

Emily just slid down to sit on the ground in front of him and shrugged. "It's what I wrote it for, Charlie. Hey, Leah? Why don't you let us do our thing and go take a walk or something?"

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, okay, just be nice, huh?"

Charlie rose to his feet and turned to look at me. "What? What's going on?"

"Wolf Girls 101, Charlie. It's okay. The imprints always get together for a talk at these things. If they start bugging you, just say my name. I'll hear you."

I saw him blush a little and held back a smile. "You really hear that well?"

"You're welcome to ask for a demo any time!"

Then, I turned and left him to the others. I felt real bad, though, because I knew he'd feel out of place and I just wanted him to feel that he belonged with us. He was mine, dammit, and I wanted that to feel good and right to him, not weird.

But at least this one time, he needed a chance to talk with the other imprints. At least once. The man was still investigating and making up his mind about everything and I wanted to make sure he had all the evidence and testimonies at his fingertips.

Hell, I was even thinking like a cop. That was just bizarre.

When the girls – and Charlie – quit talking about whatever it was the imprints talked about (they kept secrets from the pack and we knew that – sometimes the guys were proud of 'em and sometimes they were just annoyed) and split up to join us.

I felt really proud, just then. I didn't expect to, but I did. I mean, I loved Charlie, yeah, but seeing him with the bonfire's light licking his skin (I still wanted to lick his face myself!), nodding at something one of the girls said and then laughing a little, with his eyes crinkling up in the way they have before they dispersed – well, that was pretty awesome. My guy, just – just handling it, you know?

"Leah."

His voice saying my name all soft and intimate-sounding reached me. It was a real turn-on and I felt my own cheeks heat as I faced him and cocked one brow up to show him I had heard him. He was testing me, I knew. He grinned when he understood I'd heard his quiet call and my heart exploded. Again. The man just got to me, what could I say? I moistened my lips – Hey, I could test him too, right? Hell, yes! – and saw his eyes drop for a just a second before meeting mine as I wove through the group to reach his side.

"Told ya," I said, sounding saucy and like I'd just won the freaking lottery. "So, you ready to head out?" He had driven the cruiser out to the Rez for the bonfire and it wasn't parked too far away.

He took another look at the people gathered around the bonfire, nodded at Billy and my mom – who were looking really cozy, and I made a mental note to harrass her about that later – and tugged at his jacket. Then he eyed me in my jeans and tan tank top and smilingly shook his head. "Yeah. Can I, um, drive you home or did you want to stay?"

Inside, I felt like I was balanced on the edge of the cliff, so I let the sounds sort of filter out around me while I focused on Charlie. Did he want to leave alone and be by himself to sort stuff out or did he want me with him? Sometimes, the guys said they would just _know_ when their imprints needed something from them. Like once, Embry showed me a time with Bella when she just found out about being an imprint and he knew better than to give her some long answer to something. He just _knew_.

I searched inside myself as fast as I could to see if I would just _know_ what Charlie wanted. I only wanted to take a breath or two because I didn't want to freak him out! "Uh, sure. I'd love a lift home." I grinned at him. "Or I could just go all furry –" _and you could ride me _"and get home on my own."

His grin was crooked and the sights and sounds of the bonfire's breaking up surrounded my brain again. "That's all right, Leah. I'll take you." He turned, caught Bella's eye and nodded. "I'll see you later this week?"

"Sunday dinner, Dad. We'll be there."

Embry gave me an encouraging look and Bella just grinned as I fell in step alongside Charlie. He shot a glance at me, my imprint did, as we reached the few cars that had driven out to the cliffs for the bonfire. Overhead, the sky was dark but with the hazy light that seemed to sift out of the clouds the way it can, sometimes. My fingers twitched with the desire to touch Charlie. To feel his hair caught in my hands, his body pressing me into some hard surface – I had no preference about that hard surface, so long as I could sense him bearing down on me – smelling him, tasting him...

He opened the passenger door for me and I felt a stupid smile on my face. I don't know why, exactly, but there it was. I stepped behind the door was getting ready to sit down when I glanced up at Charlie's face. That sexy 'stache was twitching, as if he had some kind of uncomfortable thought trying to push its way out of his mouth.

I know what I _wanted_ to put _in_ his mouth!

"Everything okay, Charlie?" I whispered, not wanting to interrupt any thoughts he was having, but wondering if he was going to stare at me for a while. I was totally okay with that, because I liked him staring at me. I'd like it more if his hands followed his eyes, but I was also weirdly okay with him not touching me, too. I wanted him to be comfortable and happy with our relationship.

I just hoped hoped _hoped_ that he would eventually want me half as much as I wanted him!

He shook his head a little and said he was fine before closing my door and ambling slowly around to his side. An awkward smile and a few minutes later and we were at my house. Like an old-fashioned kind of guy, Charlie walked me to my door. It was dark on the porch and I wondered if he could feel the same heavy anticipation I could. The katydids were even keeping a low profile, but I could hear them.

I saw a Disney movie called _The Little Mermaid, _when I was a kid. Prince Eric and Ariel – I might have been the only girl at school who did not want to be Ariel – were in a boat or something and it was all supposed to be perfect for him to kiss her. And that stupid gay crab was trying to get all the animals and fish to sing for Eric to "kiss the girl." I had this bizarre feeling that the crab was talking to the katydids and getting them to sing the same thing to Charlie.

My heart started pounding and my throat went all dry as I felt this subtle sort of shift happen between us. He cocked his head and eyed me. "This still has me kind of unsettled, Leah, I gotta be honest with you." I nodded, watching him with every cell of my body. He rubbed the back of his neck and watched me too, from under his eyebrows. My body tensed and all the hair on my skin seemed to try to reach him as he continued. "Part of me thinks that it's weird because you're Harry's ki–, er, daughter, you know? And then I think, hell, I'm too old for a girl like you."

I had to interrupt him then. "But Charlie, it's not –"

His eyes crinkled in a small smile when he gently, gently touched my lips with his finger. I almost melted. "I know. You know," he went on, his voice rough and hesitant when he dropped his hand. "I did read that book. And I talked to everyone."

"I know."

His eyebrows arched. "Yeah?"

"No secrets in the pack, Charlie."

"Ri-i-ight. I remember. So. Yeah. So part of me is thinking it's weird. But – I have to say that I – I like it, too. I haven't even wanted to try again with someone, you know? Not since Reneé." I winced tried not to pant out my nerves and frustration. Reneé – how could she have left him? The woman must have been stupid. "I guess I'm a lot like Bella. I like to know someone's gonna stick around."

"I'll be here, Charlie," I murmured, reaching to run my hands down his arms because, damn it, I had to touch him! "I'm not going anywhere."

He caught my hands as they reached his and I quit breathing. And then I gasped and drew in a deep breath, pulling in the scent of him. That masculine combination of smoke and virility and laundry detergent. I was so hung up on that particular smell that I'd started getting hot and bothered while washing my damn clothes!

"I'm getting that, Leah. I am." Later, I'd remember that it was all kinds of sweet to hear Charlie's heart speed up as he studied my hands twined with his. "So...that book..."

"Yeah?"

His mouth opened and shut a couple of times before he decided what he wanted to say. This was totally not Chief Swan I was talking to. This guy was all Charlie. "Um...do you really feel that way? A- About me?"

_That_ way. Did I feel _that_ way. I almost laughed, but managed to cut it off with just a smile. Oh, the guys were going to love this. "I totally do, Charlie Swan."

He smiled back, right into my eyes. "All right, then." Without any more stops and starts or anything, his head slowly dropped to mine. My eyes closed and I felt like a freaking Disney princess. At my age! I tilted my chin up and his mustache brushed the dip in my upper lip. I heard my name as he breathed it against my skin. Then...ohhh... His lips smoothed over mine, touching me and then sliding away again. "Sorry, Leah, it's been a long –"

"Shut up, Charlie," I whispered before falling back against my door and pulling him to me. Just like I'd wished for earlier, his body pressed into mine and I could feel the muscles in his thighs tighten against me. His hands kept their hold on mine, but that felt just great. As if he were making sure I was staying with him, like I said I would. And his mouth...oh! First, he went easy on me, but I could feel his heat building against me and I parted my lips just to make sure he knew he was invited.

The man certainly knew how to accept an invitation! He teased my lips with his tongue, as if he was relearning how to do all this kissing stuff and I made sure to meet him with the tip of my own, guiding him in for a smooth landing. I read one romance in my life – things are stupid – and it mentioned something about dueling tongues or some crap and I can tell you that did not happen with me and my imprint. No, we sort of slowly explored each other, sweeping over all available surface, tasting, breathing, sensing...

My body temperature must have skyrocketed as I pushed my hips slightly into his. Not too much, but enough to let him know that yeah, he hadn't forgotten a thing.

I might have found out how much more he remembered but I heard Seth's voice carrying over the night air. "Hey, Leah," he said, keeping it low enough that human ears would be oblivious. "Better shut it down, sis! Mom's coming!"

With a sigh, I slid my mouth away from Charlie's to tuck my head under his chin. "Wow," I breathed.

I felt his chuckle against my chest. "Wow."

* * *

**A/N: Remember, this story is up for BEST IMPRINT at the Silent Tear Awards. I would really love to have your vote! :) See my profile for the link to the voting page. **

**Also, this story will update before Surprise M'Ending's final chapter, so the wait for Charlie's POV (that's next!) shouldn't be too long. **

**Thanks for reading! ~ LJ**


	8. Seven: That's My Girl

**A/N: First** – Forgive the break between the last chapter and this one! I know it's been forever, but I've had my hands full, believe me! **Second** – I'm up for auction for the **Fandom Gives Back Eclipse Edition**. The links for my auction thread and discussion thread are on my profile page, so please check them out. We're raising money to fight pediatric cancers and it's totally worth it! **Third – THANK YOU TO EVERYONE** who has read or reviewed or pimped this story out. I have had such a great time with Charlie and Leah! And now, let's go take a peek inside Charlie's head, shall we?

* * *

**Seven: That's My Girl.**

**Charlie's POV:**

My whole body was throbbing with the need for release. I could feel her all around me – hell, I could practically taste her. "Leah..." I whispered.

"Charlie..." she moaned, her voice rough with want.

It was the very best sex I could remember ever having or even _thinking_ about. Just as I roared her name, she growled. Sexiest damn thing _ever_.

Her growl became a howl that shook the windows, penetrating my bones. "It's okay, baby," I whispered. "You're with me."

The howl continued and I tried to get her to be quiet but I realized that the sound wasn't even in my room. _Leah_ wasn't in my room. The only thing in my room was me – and the evidence that I had just had an _intense_ dream. Swearing under my breath, I heard the howl again, coming from the treeline. It wasn't Leah's, though. Not Embry's either. Now that I was a part of this "secret community" Emily Uley had written about, I was getting to know the members of the Quileute Wolfpack and was learning to distinguish their different calls. I had to; I couldn't allow any of them to be hurt by a careless hunter, and I sure as hell wasn't going to call out to Leah if it wasn't her.

Wiping myself off with my sheet, I stepped across to the window that faced the side lot and the woods. "I'm up," I informed the wolf in a quiet voice.

The howling ceased and I slammed the window down again. Someone would be banging on my door in about two point five seconds, so I didn't take the time to dress; I just pulled on a pair of shorts – commando, just like the guys in the pack I'd been told – and rolled up my sheet to shove in the hamper.

Just in time for a small series of bangs to hit the rear screen. "Coming," I called out. "Keep your shorts on."

I was scrubbing at my jaw as I opened the back door and nodded Sam in.

He cleared his throat. "Chief. G'morning. Sorry to intrude on your day off." The younger man's hair was dewy and I found myself wondering if that was due to the wet leaves he had been standing in or if it was residue from his fur and an earlier rain.

"What is it?" I really just wanted to shower and then get to the diner for some coffee. "It's my day off, Sam."

"I know. Leah told us. But we've got kind of a problem on the Rez border."

Aw, hell. I was supposed to be babysitting the twins with Leah that afternoon so that Embry could take Bella out for her twentieth birthday. "You guys have law enforcement on the Rez, Sam. What do you need me for?" I leaned against the kitchen counter and crossed my arms over my chest. I probably could've been all polite and offered Sam a seat but I really didn't feel like it. I respected Sam Uley but I just didn't like him very much. Because of what happened between him and Leah.

But then, if he hadn't imprinted on Leah's cousin, Leah might not have imprinted on me...

I felt the smile tugging at my lips and squashed it. Sam's news of the druggies who were doing business on the Quileute border was not something to make any lawman smile.

* * *

Operating on information from Sam, I decided I'd have to cancel the babysitting. I knew Leah had planned to be on patrol until the afternoon, when the idea was to have her join me at Bella's. So, I headed over to my daughter's house to meet my werewolf.

_My werewolf._ That was still ringing weirdly in my head. I would never forget the night Leah phased in front of me the first time. Panic. My brain went into overdrive and all my cop-instincts insisted I throw my daughter to the floor and shoot the monster in her living room.

Damn good thing I _didn't_ act on instinct. Bella would never have forgiven me. Leah would have – I knew her well enough now to know _that_. Not that shooting her would have done any good anyway... And I'd have been devastated about doing that, even before I knew her like I've come to know her. Which was pretty damned well.

Leah Clearwater was possibly the most beautiful girl on the Rez, never mind Forks. I believed in the imprint because – well, hell, what other reason would a looker like her even look twice at an old guy like me? I'd checked out her story when she told it to me, even as hurt and angry as I was. My daughter and my oldest friend had been keeping some huge information from me. Huge. I forgave them, of course, once I realized that this was all on the level.

Or as on the level as living, breathing campfire stories ever got, anyway.

And the first time I kissed Leah... Well, that pretty much did away with most of my head-scratching about her feeling for me, anyway. I mean, sure, a woman can fake a lot of things but Leah Clearwater wasn't faking that kiss. Not that one and not a single one of any of the rest, either. She isn't faking _anything_, as far as I can tell.

What blew me away pretty much from the start about her was that she listened to me. I remember how pretty she looked in that blue dress, the night she phased that first time for me. I was a little embarrassed to realize that I was kind of showing off for her. She smiled at me with her whole face when I told her the story about the dogs facing off on my shift She smiled and laughed and – well, I know Bella loves me, but even my own daughter didn't pay me the attention Leah did.

I had been looking forward to spending the afternoon and evening with her while we babysat the kids. Stupid druggies, messing up a bunch of lives as well as my own. Idiots. My gut told me to warn Leah about them, but I knew that would only send her straight out to find them and I didn't want her to get hurt.

Not that they'd hurt her in any way. More than likely, she would put the fear of Hell into them so good they'd piss their pants and scream like little girls.

Bella's house was one that Embry and Jake and their friends had renovated for Bella and Embry. It was covered in a sturdy, pale-yellow siding and had a deep stoop to keep the rain well away from the door. Stepping stones and shells lined the walk from the gravel drive to the stoop and my daughter was waiting there for me, the sun catching her as it peeked through the nearly perpetual cloud cover. She was holding out a dripping can of Rainier. Smart girl.

"Hey, Bells! Whose car is that?" It couldn't be Leah's; she would have just run over – "furry," as she said, or otherwise.

"Um, Dad? Renée's here."

"Great." I had nothing against my ex-wife, but she was the nosiest woman to cross my path in forty years. I met Bella's eyes. "Leah?"

"Inside."

I felt as if a cold rag had been shot into my stomach. "Great. Just great." After exchanging a wry, resigned look with my daughter, I popped open my beer and followed Bella into her house.

Renée's voice greeted me immediately. "I remember when you were born, Leah." My ex-wife was gushing as she cradled Hemi in one arm. She looked up at me and grinned with a spark in her blue eyes that I remembered from our youth. "Charlie! I can't believe you haven't camped out in this house just to be close to our adorable grandchildren. Look, even Harry's daughter can't stay away."

"Hello, Renée," I said when I could slide a word in. Meeting Leah's smiling eyes, I crossed to her side. She slid Hemeh from her arms into mine – she had a sure hand with the twins. "How're you doing, Leah?" I brushed her supernaturally heated skin with the back of my hand as I shifted Hemi to my shoulder. We were still working on things between us, of course, my dreams notwithstanding.

She grinned up at me and – surprising me – kissed me right on the jaw.

Tension exploded in the room. I could almost see it, it was so thick. I focused first on Leah, because her attention on me was tangible. Eyes sharp and possessive, she seemed to try to –

I got it and I felt my face turn red. I didn't know what a male werewolf did to mark his territory but a female – _my_ female, anyway – apparently did so by kissing her imprint in front of a perceived rival. Damn it, sounded like something off _Wild Kingdom_. Leah held my eyes with her own while Renée's shock went audible.

"Charles Swan! What the hell?"

"Mom!"

Renée handed Hennah off to Bella, her gaze never leaving Leah's face. "You two...?" She gestured definitely with her hand, her mouth half-open. "Bella? Is your father with Harry's daughter?"

"Mom –"

"What's next, Charlie, a red Corvette? Gonna get that tattoo you wanted when you were twenty-one? Is she even legal?"

"Mom –" Bella said more loudly, inserting herself to take both of the children in her arms in a smooth move. Hell, she was the mother of twins and knew how to maneuver her kids. I'd seen her do it hundreds of times. "Dad and Leah are babysitting today."

"Together?"

I shot a glance at Leah's uplifted face. Her expression was all strength and confidence and I found that incredibly sexy. My skin tightened and it was all I could do to force my concentration on Renée. "Together," I informed my ex-wife. "We're like that a lot, Leah and me."

"Together," Leah repeated, lacing her fingers with mine. I actually appreciated her assertiveness. Bella did too, I could see as her eyes brimmed with smiles. Leah leaned a little into me. "Look, I know it looks like Charlie's having a midlife crisis but he's not. I'm totally the one who is into him." She smiled up at me, her gaze warm and loving and I remembered the highlights of each moment we'd been together over the summer. "Seriously. Ask anyone. I used to go jogging my his place – Didn't you use to live there, too, when I was a baby? – and I would bring him lunch to work and –"

Renée held up her hands to interrupt Leah. "What? What do you want from him?" She scowled, lines appearing between her eyebrows that reminded me of well-trod forest paths. "He's just a cop in a small town, Leah Clearwater. Not a ticket out of here. Damn it, he loves this place." Her scowl slid to me and I smiled a little.

"I do," I said, shifting to wrap an arm around Leah's shoulders. "She knows it. She loves it, too."

Making an exasperated sound, Renée just shook her head. "Fine. I don't get it, either of you, but I guess Charlie, anyway, is a grown-up."

Bella snorted. "We all are. Come on, let's go back to the nursery, Mom. You can change Hemi's diaper while I get ready for Embry."

I didn't watch them disappear into the short hallway that led to the back of the house. Instead, I turned to face Leah fully, pulling her all the way into my arms. "Sorry about that."

Her grin was bright. "What for? I'll stand up to anyone for you, Charlie. You know that, right?"

"I know. Hell, we've put up with a lot already, haven't we?"

She chuckled and I saw her cheeks darken with a blush before she shook it off. "Yep. Bet the guys at the station won't be forgetting that anytime soon..."

I had to laugh as I remembered. So did she.

* * *

"Come on, hon," I had asked her. "Eat with me. I feel weird, with you just watching."

Leah fidgeted. "I can go. I don't have to stay," she told me the first time she brought me lunch after our first kiss. "I just know you'd be eating day-old sandwiches if I didn't bring you anything."

"I've managed so far," I reminded her, wanting to be gentle, but also kind of laughing at her, I admit. It was funny, to me, to see her taking care of me. Not quite like Bella. Bella had done so, sure, but it always felt as if she were humoring me when she did.

"Managed, yes. But Charlie, my _imprint_ is not going to just _manage_ if I have anything to say about it." A cocky tilt of her chin as she leaned forward on her elbows across from me had me smiling.

One thing led to another after we ate and in the end she was in front of me at my chair. She was wiping mustard from my mustache with her thumb. I caught the tip of it in my mouth – don't know what the hell I was thinking except that I wasn't, really – and sucked the dab of mustard right off her skin. Her breath caught and I quit breathing entirely The next thing I knew, she was straddled on my lap and I could feel the heat from her body radiate out to surround me like it did when we were together. She braced herself on the file cabinet behind me, her arms extended, her breasts just at my chin as my chair tilted back with our combined weight. She smelled like fresh air and warm woman and I caught found myself inhaling as if I could keep her with me.

It was incredible. Amazing. Wild and hot, even before I pulled her head down to mine. Her tongue slid in my mouth almost immediately and there was nothing – nothing and no one – sexier than that.

I wanted to explode, right there in my office. I forgot I was on duty, even, for a minute.

But only for a minute. Leah broke off from our kiss and jerked her head to the side, her arms tensing before pushing on the black metal where her hands had been. "Crap! Sorry, Charlie," she muttered.

Wobbling in the old office chair, I turned to see every single on-duty member of Forks Finest staring through the glass windows into my office. Every damn one of them. As Leah and I tried to compose ourselves, the crowd started clapping and laughing and I had to chuckle, too.

"Sorry, Leah," I offered in apology as she scooted with almost superhuman speed off of my harder-than-usual lap. I caught her hand in one of mine and gestured to our "audience" to go away. "I'm on my _lunch_," I called, loudly enough that I knew they heard me. To the black haired beauty in front of me, I whispered, "Later, maybe?"

She shook on it.

* * *

Well, Sam and I found the druggies all right. Messing around with some of the local kids. _Kids_, dammit. Kids in middle school! We busted the kids for possession – Sam taking care of those from the Rez while I took care of the Forks' kids – and the adults for dealing. Hate to see that stuff. Potheads make me sick, they really do.

I was still feeling disgusted with all of it when I called Leah that night. "How'd it go with the twins?" I asked, not wanting to bring up Renée. I balanced the phone on my shoulder while I popped open a beer.

Her voice was husky. "I had a really good time. Even with Renée. Eventually."

"Crap. You mean she stayed?" I winced. "I'm so sorry, Leah."

I heard her laugh. The sound gave me goosebumps, I swear. "She's your grandkids' grandma, Charlie. What the hell am I supposed to do? Tell her to leave? Give her a wedgie?"

"I'd pay to see that," I told her as we both chuckled.

An image flashed in my head, then, of one of the babies calling me Grandpa Charlie someday. And then calling the werewolf on the other end of the connection Grandma Leah.

That was really out there.

**

* * *

**

"So...?"

I scratched the back of my neck and eyed the group of imprints warily. "So...what?" It was the end of October and this was not a bonfire, so I didn't really get why all the girls were huddled together next to me. Music was playing in the background – something with some kind of heavy bass line that I didn't get into at all (Didn't anyone play Springsteen anymore?) – and the guys were mostly hanging out in front of the flatscreen at Sam and Emily's house. I'd rather be with them, talking about the game, but no... Leah had wanted something to drink; of course I went to get it for her.

And I got ambushed.

Emily opened her mouth to take a breath as we stood around the punch bowl. The punch bowl, for Pete's sake. At Sam's birthday party. I felt ancient as the trees, standing around the small table with the girls. Imprints. All of us were imprints and I was still the only male. And they were all under twenty-five. Even Emily.

Rachel spoke first. "So, are you and Leah finding out if this whole mating imperative thing works for her?"

My daughter and fellow imprint threw a hand up. "Ew! This is _my dad_, Rache. C'mon. Be nice."

"No secrets!" Billy's daughter insisted, her expression playful. I shot a look to Emily, but she smiled in the lopsided way she had and shook her head. "No fair," Rachel went on. "You know all about us –"

"Hey! T. M. I!" I insisted with the current colloquialism that the young ladies preferred.

"Charlie!" they all whined – excepting Bella, who rolled her eyes and smiled an apology before hefting Hennah to her arm and walking away.

I found Leah and she must have caught my heightened tension or something – her senses were acute – because she offered me a commiserating sort of expression. And did not follow through.

Dammit!

"We're not, uh, working on that imperative. Yet," I muttered as quietly as I could. "And that's it. I'm not a girl and I don't do girl talk. Got it?"

"You can't possibly still be a _virgin_, Charlie..." teased Kim, twining a strand of her hair around a finger. Her face was lit up with humor and I knew for certain that she was getting a huge kick out of messing with Police Chief Swan. "If you need any pointers or anything..."

"Enough!" I said, half wanting to laugh even though I felt really embarrassed. "So! How about them Seahawks?"

"Charlie!"

"Come on over here, Charlie," my son-in-law called. He was giving Hemi a bottle, the little guy settled comfortably in the crook of Embry's arm. "You can feed your grandson."

"Are these things always this uncomfortable?" I muttered to Embry as I took Hemeh from him and lowered myself onto the faded cushion of the sofa.

The guys all looked around at each other and started laughing. "That's what THEY always ask!"

They snapped their jaws shut, though, when Leah reached my side, her hands fisted on her hips. I loved seeing her go all she-wolf, I really did. "What the _hell_ do you guys think you're doing? If I were messing with any of _your_ imprints, you'd be giving me all kinds of crap. You're all a bunch of sexist wannabes!" She dropped beside me on the sofa and kissed me under my ear. Damned sensitive spot for a grandpa feeding his grandson. "Want me to kick their asses?" she asked, her voice low and sultry.

"Uh, nope. Can I shoot 'em?" I joked.

Leah sighed and rested her head on my shoulder before tracing the shape of Hemi's head with one lean finger. "Wouldn't do any good, dammit. He's beautiful," she added softly. "He's got your nose."

Surprised and touched I turned to study Leah's expression. Soft wistfulness transformed her face and I felt my heart sort of jump and clench at the same time.

We needed to talk.

**

* * *

**

The party was over and Leah and I were walking to the cruiser when I pulled her against my side, keeping in step with her. "You heard all that, I'm guessing?"

She sighed and ducked her head. "Yeah. Idiot girls. Seriously, Charlie, you don't have to hang out with them. I mean – what they deal with isn't the same, you know. Not really." Reaching the car, she rolled in front of me to press her back to the driver's side door. Leah liked being between me and a hard place – and I didn't have to be a genius to figure out why. My werewolf (Emily said, in her book, that we imprints should get used to hearing that and I really did – I felt that connection with Leah that I never had had with Renée.) got turned on by the pressure, for some reason. I didn't use any pressure, though. Just stood there, holding her hands in mine. Overhead, there was a half-moon somewhere through the cloud cover, but mostly it was just dark and chilly. At least it wasn't raining. That would have been uncomfortable – for me, anyway.

"I didn't really know what to say to them," I told her. "We've never really talked about it, you know?"

She fidgeted, her fingers flexing uncomfortably between mine. "Charlie. I honestly couldn't tell you, you know? What do I say? 'Gee, _sweetie_, let's do the nasty and see if we can get me pregnant?'" Sarcasm rolled from her in thick waves and I drew her closer against my chest. She wrapped her arms around me and leaned into me in a show of vulnerability that I didn't think anyone else got to see.

Though, I guess the guys in the pack would, now. Sometimes, I thought that whole pack-mind thing was interesting. Sometimes, funny. But just at that moment, I was angry about it and felt even a little jealous. My gut tightened instinctively. At times, I hated that those young guys could see my Leah's thoughts. That they'd see her naked, damn it all, just made me mad. I knew that she saw them, too, but that never really bothered me because I knew how she felt about it.

"They all need some serious time at The Dirty Paw - that groomer's place in Port Angeles," Leah had told me once. "Disgusting, all of 'em. Not like this hot police chief I know..."

I tried to tease Leah a little out of her negative mood. I knew that the guys affected her more than she let on, occasionally. "Do the nasty? Is _that_ what you call it these days? What about making the beast with two backs? Doing the horizontal bop? Or just having a sleep-over?" I finished on a whisper over her head. I had to remember the sleep-overs that Bells had had at the Cullens, once upon a time. Vampires. My daughter had dated a vampire! She'd had sleep-overs with Alice Cullen, too...

Nah, not _that_ kind. I was pretty sure of that. Edward Cullen and Bella were way too antsy with each other... Nah. It had been a different story with her and Embry, though. Even before I found out she was pregnant, I knew they'd been having "sleep-overs."

Hell of a euphemism.

Leah thought so, too. She snorted against my throat. "I wouldn't object, you know. If you wanted to invite me over..."

Heat flared under my skin and coiled deep. "Luh - Leah? Serious?" It wasn't as if I hadn't thought of it, for sure, over the past few months. Hearing her suggest it was something else again.

"Anything in particular you're waiting for?" She nuzzled me and I swallowed. Hard. "Gotta tell ya, Charlie, it'd be awesome to be able to give those guys a shovel full of their own crap, you know?"

That reminded me of something else from Emily's little book. "How long does that have to go on, hon?" I wondered, moving her away from me so I could see her face. I reached up to stroke her hair – it felt so soft in my fingers. "Emily said she didn't know if the phasing would stop, you know... If, uh..." My collar started feeling kind of tight.

But Leah only laughed. Didn't sound like her heart was in it, though. "If I got pregnant? Yeah. I read that book too, Charlie." She hooked her fingers through my belt and tugged me up against her. I didn't mind one bit, but I didn't want her to distract me, either. With a smirk, she asked, "What, you want another baby? Or do you think I'd make a hot granny?"

"Definitely. Most beautiful grannie on the Rez," I assured her before I thought.

And then I _did_ think. And then my mouth went dry. _Another baby_. "Shit, Leah," I muttered.

Surprisingly, she laughed and wrapped her arms around me again. "That'd be messy! Gross! What, did you only just now think about it? You? Me? Babies? All that? You told me you read that book," she went on, teasing me while grinding her hips into mine.

That did _not_ help me think. At _all_. "Uh, maybe?" I grabbed her hips and tried to hold her still, but that didn't help either. "You're sure?" I rasped. "I mean, I'm old, hon."

"You're not. You're my imprint. I told you that we must really be into your bloodline."

At that, I had to laugh. "Well, you must be. The Swans and the locals do have a history..."

"Oh yeah?" she breathed, her arms moving up until they were wrapped around my neck and shoulders. When she started lightly scratching the back of my neck, I was a goner and I knew it.

"Yeah. My great-something-grandpa Jimmy Swan was a lawyer and teacher with the Makah, did you know that? Rumor has it that he married one, too. But it's not in any of the paperwork because –"

"I can guess why," Leah said on a sigh. "Glad his descendants have more sense."

"I'd have to be crazy not to be proud to be with you, Leah Clearwater." It wasn't easy for me to talk about stuff like that. Hell, I loved Leah and hadn't ever told her. I needed to, I knew it, but –

"I love you, too."

Turns out I didn't have to say it first, anyway. "Leah..." I breathed her name before I pressed her tightly against the car. Just the way she liked it. Her overheated body did wild things to my blood pressure and I wondered briefly what it would be like to kiss her when she was pregnant with our child.

Quickly, before I could think about it too much or change my mind, I tore my mouth from hers. "Marry me?"

* * *

"Dad, you look great. Quit worrying, already."

I grimaced at my reflection in the mirror. Bells was helping me get ready for The Big Day. "I never would have figured Leah to be the kind of girl who wanted a big wedding, Bells. Gotta tell ya."

My daughter grinned at our shared reflection in the mirror, taking in the pictures of Leah and I at Christmas under some mistletoe, the one of us at Valentine's Day when we went to Seattle for the weekend, and the most recent one taken on First Beach at twilight before the first May bonfire. "Leah is full of surprises, Dad. Thought you had that figured out already?"

"Yeah, but still. It seems strange, Bells, that my daughter ran off to Vegas to get married while I am doing it on the Rez with all of that stuff."

"How'd they fix the blood test?" Bella asked, knowing that there had been issues with that. I was not going to marry Leah without a proper license, according to the law.

I felt my cheeks heat up. I was as bad as Bells, for sure. "Uh...she was actually okay, really." I winced on my face, but inside I couldn't believe how happy I was. My daughter didn't miss a thing. Her eyes glowed as she tugged me around to stare at me. I shrugged. She beamed and hugged me.

"How did everyone keep this a secret?" she whispered, her face almost split in two with her grin.

"She's not phasing anymore..."

"No. Way. So...that worked for her?" Bella's eyes filled with sudden tears, but she was still smiling so I didn't know what the hell that was all about. "I'm so happy! So happy for her!"

I chucked her on the shoulder and turned back to make sure my damn tie was straight. "What about for your old man, huh?"

"Well, yeah. But, this is huge, Dad. You know that."

I blew out a breath. "Yeah. I know. I do. And I'm real happy too, kid."

"Do I look all right?"

I looked at my little girl, all dressed up in a pretty dress with some kind of flower print on the skirt and flat shoes. Smart kid, my girl. Her hair was loose and looked comfortable and her face was shining. "You look beautiful," I told her.

"Then let's go get you married. I know – I know you'll be really happy, Dad."

I paused at the door to the bedroom Leah and I would be sharing for only as long as it took before we bought a new place together. "I know I will, Bella. I do."

"Save that 'I do' for Leah!"

"I believe I will, kid. I believe I will."

**

* * *

**

"Where are we going?" Leah said on a whine as I handed her out of the car. It was a Jeep Liberty. Leah picked it out during the inventory clearance sales everyone was having a few months back. "I know you said it was a surprise, but I am your wife, now," she teased, pulling me against her as she leaned on the side panel of the Jeep. The afternoon sun gleamed in her hair, which she was letting grow as she wasn't phasing anymore.

"Don't want to ruin the pretty white dress, hon," I reminded her even as I let myself rest fully on her, kissing her with a sudden depth that made her moan low in her throat. Damn, that _sound_... Did it to me every time. "Watch it, or we'll be finishing up right here on the driveway."

"Hey, there's a lot of room under all this satin," she murmured against my lips. "I'm game. And I'm horny..."

"You and me both, hon. Let's get inside."

"Charlie..." Then, she pushed me away from her and, with a huge grin, started running, catching the massive, shifting fabric of her wedding dress up so that it gathered at her knees as she ran to the front door. "Catch me!"

I was almost to the door, my keys in my hand and my heart racing with the need to bed my bride. "I'm going to rip that thing off of you the minute we get inside," I warned her.

"I'll help!"

"Just an effing sec!"

My libido disappeared in the half-second it took me to see the stranger coming around from the side of the garage. "What the hell?"

"What?" the scruffy man said as he approached one hand pointing shakily at me. "Don't rec'nize me? Ya put me in jail, and you don't even remember?" He lit into a string of profanity that I had certainly heard before, but not with a lady present.

And Leah Clearwater Swan was most definitely a lady.

"Who the _hell_ do you think you are, messing with my wedding day?" my wife demanded, taking a step forward.

_Oh, no._ "Stay put, Leah," I said smoothly, my hand raised to reinforce my instruction. I stepped between her and the shaking man and realized all at once that I wasn't packing. My piece was in the car – Bells and Billy had both agreed that I didn't need to pack on the Rez for my own wedding – and I hadn't bothered to grab it just to go inside, make love to my wife, change and leave on our honeymoon again within a matter of an hour. Or two. "Now, fella, I don't know your name, but you need to settle down right now."

"Jeff Carter, asshole! And you put me away last year. You and that Indian. It was only pot, man."

I remembered the border drug deals and nodded, my eyes never leaving his. My heart was shouting at me to get Leah to safety, but I had to handle this guy. "I get that, but you were sellin' it to kids, Jeff. Now, why don't you just settle down and walk away. You haven't done anything here for me to get too mad at, unless you count makin' my wife mad."

"I will tear his balls off," Leah ground out. I couldn't take my eyes off Carter, but I could hear Leah's tension.

"Not if I get you first!"

Then, quite a few things happened at once. Carter pulled a gun out of his jacket pocket with a shaky hand and half-aimed it at Leah. Which was bad enough for me to put him away right there.

"You son of a bitch!" Leah shouted, running past me to body-slam him to the ground. She may not be phasing, but Leah was gifted at hand-to-hand combat, even without her teeth and claws.

The druggie fired the revolver and it was all I could do not to panic as I barreled over to him, pushing Leah out of the way and punching the guy in the head so that it was pounded into the brick of the driveway. "Get in the house, Leah. Call the station. Tell 'em what's happening."

"Charlie! No effing way!"

"First, give me his gun, then do it. I don't have a damn cell phone and you are not going to keep him on the ground."

Carter opened his mouth to say something, but I punched it shut and took the nine millimeter when Leah handed it to me. I muscled him onto his stomach and pinned him while I checked the magazine of the weapon.

Loaded. Fine.

I kept it pointed on the back of his grimy neck and nodded at Leah to get her satin-covered ass inside and call the station.

It wasn't until Mark Hanson arrived and picked up Carter than I let myself relax, collapsing on the soft cushions of the living room sofa with my head in my hands. He could have shot Leah! And she wasn't some supernatural, ultra-healing werewolf anymore. She was human. Pregnant! He could have _killed_ her!

I started shaking with the lessening of the adrenaline in my system. Shaking and needing nothing so much as I did to feel Leah in my arms, in my lap, surrounding me with her enthusiasm and strength and devotion. I needed her, God help me. And then, there she was.

"Hey," she murmured, dressed only in the white underthings she had had on for the wedding, presumably. A corset, I thought it was, with a garter belt and white thigh-high stockings that would have had me ripping them right off of her if things had gone the way I had originally planned. "You were wonderful, Chief Swan."

I gathered her against me, claiming her lips with mine and letting her kiss reassure me. Her heart pounded against me, her skin was as hot as my own when I finally had to catch my breath and bury my nose in her hair. "None of that," I muttered. "You know I'd rather be called Charlie."

She laughed and nuzzled me too before doing something I never would have expected.

She licked my jaw, her tongue caressing and promising more of the same much farther south. "I've always wanted to do that, Chief Swan," she said, emphasizing the whole title thing. "Ever since I first imprinted on you."

I held her face in my palms and just stared at her. Funny how some things hit a guy in the heart, you know? I laughed a little and shook my head. "Never saw _that_ coming."

* * *

**The End**

**x o x o x**

**A/N:** I wanted to thank a trio of fine ladies who assured me about some select passages that I tossed their way. **Katmom**, **valelf** and **u2shay** are women with great humor and a huge willingness to put up with me and my imprintings. Thank you for reading and laughing.

This is the end of Charlie and Leah's imprint story. However...! I am up for auction! Fandom Gives Back, Eclipse Edition is going on right now and I will do a nice juicy outtake or a oneshot for the highest bidder. Miss something you wanted to see here, just pony up to the auction (links on my profile) and put your money in toward a GREAT cause. I might just be able to write for you.

I am not going to apologize for ending this without a hint of lime, because I was writing about how these two worked the imprint in their relationship. And, as was revealed, they did indeed follow the mating imperative...successfully! ;-)

Thank you so much for reading, for reviewing, and for following these two along in this story. I had a DELIGHTFUL TIME with y'all. The only bit left in this series is the final chapter for Jake's imprint. Keep an eye open for Cassi...

Until next time...

~LJ


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